Chapter 1581
The Emperor Beasts and the mercenaries alike stared at the short man that needed to drag his feet to step forward.
Zogar Vastor was a short man in his mid-sixties barely over 1.55 meters (5’1″) tall.
Black hair has started to grow again on the top of his bald head while the snow-white hair he had left on the sides had regained part of its color and so did his waxed handlebar mustaches.
After becoming interim Headmaster and then turning himself into an Abomination-Hybrid, he had slimmed down quite a bit, but he still looked more like a loving grandpa than a fierce warrior.
Yet despite his meek appearance, he was a Highmaster and the unsung god of the battlefield of the Griffon Kingdom.
“Uncle Vastor!” The kids escaped from Lifebringer’s grasp, hugging the man that they considered as a part of their family while bawling their eyes out.
“Please, you must save Filia and Frey. The bad guys tried to kill us all.”
“Are they still alive?” He asked while using his breathing technique, Radiant Storm, to stop panting like a bellows and regain his strength.
Completing his mission and Warping his way from Derios’ army base had consumed most of his mana. Using a powerful tier five Chaos spell like Reverse Flow and controlling it with such accuracy that it had affected solely the enemy side had taken everything he had left.
“We weren’t their main goal, quite the contrary. They mostly toyed with us the whole time.” The Kirin resembled a gigantic white horse partially covered in scales with antlers coming out from the sides of his head and a huge horn at its center.
Emerald flames came out of his hooves, antlers, and chin. The latter formed what looked like a long blazing beard.
“The main forces focused on the Yehval household while the rest of them focused on keeping the magical beasts and the Queen’s Corps busy. Someone must have warned them about Lith’s relationship with Salaark because they never tried to actually kill the kids.
“They just made sure that we couldn’t leave the safety of Lith’s arrays nor contact him.”
“Then let’s screw their plans for good.” Vastor said while placing his hand on the ground to perceive the network of overlapping elemental blocking arrays that surrounded the area around and above Lith’s house.
It was because of them that the army couldn’t send more reinforcements through the Warp Gate in the barn, forcing them to waste precious mana just to reach Lutia. Those who had managed to arrive before him had ended up outnumbered and isolated from the forces already on the battlefield.
Without a strategic plan and due to the many traps and arrays that the mercenaries had laid before starting their ambush, the moment the mages stepped out of their respective Warp Steps they had been quickly cornered and killed.
‘Whoever staged the attack is really good. They have chosen a moment when Lith is away and Faluel is with her family. This is all my fault.
‘I would have never thought that the Balkor copycat would have lasted more than a couple of seconds against someone like Tezka, nor that they would have brought along a whole army!’
Vastor always carried the “Future” card that he had found under Zinya’s door in his pocket and now his guilt made it a burden so heavy that even his hybrid body could barely stand it.
‘Filthy bastard! If only I could reveal all of my powers, if only I could summon the entire Organization here through a Gate instead of wasting time with Chaos Steps, they would already be here and this battle would be over in a second!’
The Master used the tier five Highmaster spell, Clean Field, to flood the magical formation below him with his mana. Usually, Vastor would use cantrips to destroy the focal points of an array in order to destroy it, but he had no time to deal with so many of them.
Overlapping arrays allowed mages to combine their attacks and to affect a greater area, but it also exposed them to several risks. Vastor’s spell not only did allow him to alter the position of the runes of a magical formation, making it crumble, but it also altered the balance of the neighboring arrays.
Guided by his willpower, the runes of the starting air sealing array spread like a disease, disrupting the precise sequence of commands that governed the magical formations and triggering a chain reaction that cleansed the area around Lith’s house.
Clean Field required the Highmaster to analyze and neutralize multiple non-permanent arrays in one fell swoop, but doing that would take a huge toll on both their mind and body.
After using it, a fake mage needed either help from his allies to finish the job or time to rest whereas Vastor only needed a few breaths to regain his strength.
“Kids, go through the Gate in the barn and tell everyone what’s happening. I’ll hold out as long as I can.” The Master waited for Aran and Leria to disappear inside the Gate before flying straight where he could feel the presence of Tezka’s tail.
The enemy mages cursed seeing the arrays that they had worked hard to conjure and coordinate collapse like a house of cards and trembled at the sight of the newcomer, fearing that Manohar, or maybe even Verhen had arrived.
All of the mercenary units had accepted that job only after being reassured that they wouldn’t have to deal with Lith. Killing a few elite members of any army or a few filthy beasts was just a regular day job.
Lith, however, was someone well-known for having decimated the Talons when he was twelve, to have killed a Wyvern at thirteen, and to have destroyed Lost Cities that were supposed to be immortal receptacles of Forbidden Magic.
Rumors said that he wasn’t just a mage trained to kill like regular members of the army, but someone born and bred for the job. Other rumors claimed that he controlled a seven-eyed demon who in turn could summon legendary creatures that would lay waste upon anyone who dared to challenge him.
The moment a single man came from the direction of the Verhen Household, everyone shivered in fear.
At least until they recognized Vastor. Then, the mercenaries regained their confidence and a huge grin appeared on their faces.
Every mage within and beyond the borders of the Kingdom knew the Eternal Loser, the Wannabe Magus, the god of nothing, the spare wheel.
With his short stature and well-fed appearance, Vastor could inspire respect in any academic, but to a seasoned warrior he looked more of a joke than any of his slander titles could express.
“Whoever you are, don’t move from behind my back.” The Master said, pretending not to know the small Eldritch.
Arrays or not, Tezka’s Spirit Tail didn’t have the magical prowess to open a Warp Steps that could lead Zinya and the kids to safety. Also, the spells imbued within Endless Night were meant to fight, not to run away.
“I’ll deal with these guys. You just worry about stopping anything that gets past me.” Vastor turned around for a second, just enough to make sure that everyone was alright… “Zinya, whatever you hear, please keep your eyes closed. I-“
Chapter 1582
It was then that he saw the purple marks on Zinya’s cheeks, the split lips, the blood coming out of her mouth, and the tears streaming down her face. Filia and Frey lay still between her arms as if they were dead while they had just fainted from the terror.
Until that moment, Vastor wanted to protect her from the ugliest side of him and from the horrors of battle. Humans weren’t undead that would conveniently leave behind just a pile of ashes.
Killing monsters in front of her made him a hero whereas killing people would just make him a murderer. Yet after seeing how the Balkor copycat had messed her up, none of that mattered and the Master’s eyes turned pitch-black.
A two meters (6’7″) tall man clad in a full suit of Orichalcum armor exploited Vastor’s shock to swing his mace in a downward arc meant to burst his head open. The Yggdrasill Staff lunged forward, making up for the gap in their arm length.
The movement was quick, efficient, and so strong that a hole the size of a watermelon appeared where the mercenary’s heart had been until a second back, letting the people in the backline see the god of the battlefield’s enraged face through the layers of bleeding flesh and broken metal.
Several tier five War Mage spells like Raging Sun, Frozen Maw, and Chasing Night rained upon Vastor from every side, yet he just flicked two fingers to conjure his tier five Chaos Array, Curse of Darkness.
A six-pointed star with uneven sides appeared below his feet, covering an area of 20 meters (66 feet) around him and a humongous tendril of Chaos emerged from each of its points.
They moved as fast as a bullet and as precise as a surgeon’s hands, snuffing the incoming spells out as if they were matches amid a storm.
The tendrils smothered the purple flames, devoured the tornado filled with ice spikes, and consumed the darkness-infused bolts of lightning without letting a single speck of energy get past their boundaries.
Vastor threw a small red mana crystal at Tezka’s Spirit tail, giving him full control of the array so that the Master could focus on the sea of enemies in front of him.
A female warrior, whose face possessed both a rare beauty and savagery, exploited that moment of distraction to swing her two-handed greatsword at Vastor in a vertical slash while spitting a cloud of acid from her mouth.
Even if the short Archmage dodged the sword, the acidic breath would have hit the woman and children behind him, turning them into a puddle of melted flesh and bones.
‘He has no way out. Either he takes my blade and dies, buying my marks a mere second, or he runs away and I kill them.’ The woman was actually a Lindwurm shapeshifted into human form.
The lesser Dragon had yet to learn the secret of Awakening and the only way she had to obtain the resources she needed for her magical research was through the black market.
They cost a pretty penny, but a single mission with the Grim Reapers usually earned her enough money to buy ingredients to perform a few Forgemastering experiments.
With the prize that the blue-robed man had promised to the guild who completed the mission for him and what he had already paid in advance, she would be able to work non-stop for weeks.
“Please, Zogar, run! There’s no point in dying with us!” Zinya said amid tears.
Even though she was ready to give her life to protect her children, she wouldn’t resent him for abandoning them. The Professor had already done enough for her. He had given her sight and fought to the death for her against the undead during Night’s attack.
The life of a commoner woman was nothing compared to that of an Archmage and she couldn’t ask Vastor to risk everything he had to protect the children of another man.
Yet Vastor didn’t move, grabbing the greatsword with his bare hand and taking the acidic breath square on his face. The Dominator armor effortlessly repelled the Orichalcum blade while a thin mist of Chaos got rid of the acid before it could reach him.
The Emperor Beast weighed a few tons so the impact from the attack made the ground under the Master’s feet crumble until he was waist-deep into the ground. He could feel the joints in his elbows and knees crack from the strain despite the Adamant Armor protecting him, yet he didn’t flinch.
Vastor ripped the blade off her hands with the sheer strength of his grip, making the woman stumble forward. She exploited his pull and added it to her own speed to punch the Master square in the face with a perfect counter.
He let go of the blade, using his now free hand to intercept the fist when it was centimeters away from his nose.
“Emperor Beast or not, touching an Abomination is a mistake that no one lives to regret.” He whispered to her ear as his hand turned black.
The mere contact drained the Lindwurm’s strength and gave Vastor new energy, healing all the wounds that the previous blade strike had inflicted upon him. The punch lost all of its momentum and Emperor Beast fell to her knees.
The woman felt dizzy for a second before falling asleep. Her body turned into dust in front of her flabbergasted companions who had no idea what had just happened.
“Are you dumb or what?” The leader of the Black Dragons said. His confident voice allowed the mercenaries to shrug off the fear that had paralyzed them until that moment.
“He’s an Archmage of the Kingdom, but he’s still just one man. Stop attacking him one at a time. Charg-” A black dart from Vastor’s extended forefinger put an end to both his speech and life.
‘This guy is exactly like the little fox monster. Take darkness magic away from him and he’s nothing.’ The Wardens among the mercenaries thought while casting their best sealing arrays as fast as they could.
Yet Vastor could see thanks to Life Vision the mana flow of all the opponents in his line of sight and Bytra had taught him how to understand who was casting what spell.
A wave of his hand unleashed his tier personal tier five War Mage spell, Tetrastrophe. A pillar of fire, a hail of frozen lances, a deadly quicksand, and a thunderstorm, each one with the destructive power of a tier five spell appeared amid the enemy lines, scattering their formations and killing the Wardens.
The mercenaries attacked in groups and died in groups. Then, once they managed to coordinate again, they attacked in waves and died in waves.
The Chaos array blocked the incoming spells while Vastor got rid of anyone that dared to step forward and face him. He circled around Zinya and the Spirit tail with the grace of a dancer and the accuracy of a surgeon.
Unlike Tezka, close-quarter combat didn’t stop him from weaving new spells with every movement that he made and unleashing them as soon as they were ready.
Seeing their front lines dropping like flies made the mercenaries step back and bought Vastor the time that he needed to conjure one of the most prized spells of Kigan, the Blood Wind of the Desert and one of his Abomination hybrids.
Chapter 1583
Vastor conjured a red sphere the size of an apple on his left hand and an orange one on his right. The heat generated by the former drained the humidity from the air, raising the temperature by several dozens of degrees per second.
The latter, instead, broke down the solid ground below him until it turned into fine sand, each grain of which was no bigger than a speck of dust.
Vastor brought the two spheres together, and the tier five War Mage spell, Red Storm, revealed its true form.
It was a mix of fire and earth that Kigan had researched ever since he was still a Phoenix, in the attempt to safely conjure a destructive power on par with Cinder without having to deal with its counterpart, Zero.
Aside from Decay, cursed elements were dangerous even for Eldritchs. Red Storm was the result of Kigan’s studies and he had taught it to Vastor to make sure that if anything happened to him, someone would live on and continue his legacy.
A blood-colored sandstorm flooded the area surrounding Vastor, sparing only the people at its center. The mercenaries conjured several kinds of protections against the unknown threat but all of them failed.
The red color of the spell was caused by the intense heat that coated each grain of sand while the storm was generated by the earth magic that made the spell spin around its caster.
Together they formed an incandescent whirlwind that could not be dodged or blocked.
Shields made of ice disappeared as soon as Red Storm dried the air. Walls made of earth and air domes could stop the fine particles, but not the heat that they released as more and more of them piled up on the surface of the conjured protections.
All those who failed to understand the true aim of Kigan’s spells died without understanding what they had missed. Red Storm didn’t target the people inside its area of effect directly, it killed them of dehydration.
The heat made the mercenaries sweat bullets but the dry air made the sweat evaporate as soon as it formed so that it was impossible to notice the phenomenon until it was too late. First, their vision blurred, then they had difficulty breathing, and lastly, they turned into mummified corpses.
Once Red Storm disappeared, only the backlines and those who had managed to Blink to safety were still alive. At least until Vastor unleashed more spells that the Abomination hybrids of his Organization had taught him.
Zinya couldn’t avert her eyes from the horror taking place in front of her. People exploded, burned, or simply disappeared in flashes of darkness, spattering blood and entrails everywhere while the stench of sh*t made the air almost unbreathable.
From time to time, she lowered her gaze to make sure that Filia and Frey were alright, yet the sound of the carnage kept drawing her attention like a siren whose song she was unable to resist.
She cried, puked, and even peed herself as she witnessed the death of countless people.
The mercenaries didn’t fare any better and they didn’t stand behind the safety of Vastor’s back but faced his unbridled fury. Those who surrendered died and so did everyone who offered him their backs in the attempt to escape.
Panic started to spread and even the backlines started to fall back. Orderly at first and then in a chaotic, desperate run for their lives. They trampled everyone that moved too slowly or that simply stood in their path.
The Master never ceased his attack but he didn’t give chase either. No matter how many of those human-faced monsters he killed, there were plenty more on Mogar ready to take their place whereas there was only one Zinya.
He didn’t care how the rest of Mogar saw her. To him, she was more important than the Queen.
Ever since he had lost any hope to become the god of healing and the Royals had started to consider him as an expendable asset, Vastor had wasted years in the foolish attempt to bring back the glorious days of his youth.
The more effort he had put into overcoming the skill gap between him and Manohar the more frustrated he had become. For each step forward he made, the god of healing advanced ten, if not a hundred times that much.
After over a decade of failures, Vastor had inwardly given up. He still chased Manohar’s back only because he didn’t know what else to do with his life.
Zinya had been the first person to make him feel special again.
She treated him as if he was the successful man that he had always dreamed of becoming instead of a middle-aged loser. She didn’t care for how old and short he was, always looking at him as if she could see something dazzling.
When she smiled at him, Vastor felt the disappointment and self-loathing that had haunted him during his adult life disappear.
He had used the black core on himself, turning into the first artificial Abomination-human hybrid, not because he cared about immortality, but because he wanted to protect her. Even if that meant scaring Zinya and losing her forever.
Once only corpses lay in front of him and the still alive mercenaries were out of the reach of his spells, Vastor turned around. He noticed Zinya’s sorry state and knew that she hadn’t listened to his warnings.
She sat in a pool of her own urine and puke, trembling from head to toe. Her face was as pale as a ghost and part of her hair had turned white. She had been biting her lips to not scream and clenching her hands with so much strength that both were bleeding.
The Master didn’t dare to come close to her, knowing that nothing he could say would make her forget what she had just witnessed. He just released a pulse of darkness to cleanse the air from the stench of sh*t and to clean her, yet Zinya held her children tighter, yelping in fear at the sight of his magic.
“Thanks for your help. Now you can go.” Vastor said to the Spirit Tail after a roaring thunder broke the silence.
Tezka and the blue-robed man were too far for Live Vision to pick up their energy signatures, but the noise and the flashes of light produced by the conflicting spells meant that their fight was far from over.
‘If I step in against an opponent that can go toe to toe against the oldest Eldritch of my Organization, I would only be a hindrance. Most of Tezka’s best spells have a huge area of effect and they don’t discriminate between enemies and allies.’ Vastor thought.
Zinya raised her face to look into his eyes one last time, stuttering gibberish for a few seconds before fainting. The Master used Invigoration to make sure that both she and the kids were fine as the Spirit Tail darted away, eager to return to the main body along with their equipment.
Meanwhile, away from the ruins of Zinya’s house, Tezka and the blue-robed man were still fighting… The Davross dagger had given the fake Fallmug a significant edge over the unarmed Eldritch.
Chapter 1584
Not only did each hit of the blade open deep cuts into Tezka’s flesh, but the enchanted weapon was also imbued with several spells that had bought the blue-robed man enough time to fix his right arm that Cinder had crippled.
To make matters worse, ever since the man had taken out the dagger, his movements had changed from that of a savage prick into those of a seasoned warrior. His footwork, swordplay, and even his gait had completely changed.
Tezka had used one of his Warg abilities to have his fur harden and turn it into quills akin to that of a porcupine, yet the enchanted blade made short work of them as well.
The Eldritch used the Chaos imbued quills as means of both attack and defense, yet the blue-robed man managed to dodge everything the Abomination threw at him, and his dagger pierced through the quills as if they were made of paper.
“You did a nice job hiding your strength up to this point. A lesser fighter would have fallen for your trick and died when you changed your rhythm. What can I say, great minds think alike!”
Tezka altered the shape and density of the fur on his tails, turning them into spikes as hard as a rock, the tip of which was imbued with enough Chaos to pierce even through Adamant.
Each one of the nine tails moved as if it had a mind of its own, coordinating their attacks between them without hindering Tezka’s movements. Among their many powers, Fylgjas could extend and retract their tails at will like springs.
It boosted their speed and piercing ability, allowing them to reach a length up to six meters (20 feet). On top of that, Tezka’s arms and feet had a greater reach than the blue-robed man’s, a gap further widened by the quills.
Truth to be told, unlike the fake Fallmug, Tezka hadn’t been holding back. To control two bodies at the same time while also protecting Zinya and fighting so many enemies at the same time had taken a huge toll on his focus.
Until Vastor’s arrival, he had to split his energies on two completely different battlefields. Now, however, the only role of his Spirit tail was to control the Curse of Darkness array, relieving Tezka’s mind of a huge burden.
Now that the fight had become ten versus one, the blue-robed man lost his advantage as quickly as he had gained him. The tails attacked him from the sides and behind while Tezka charged in front of him.
He used one of the spells imbued in the dagger, Black Shroud to envelope himself into a thick sphere of Darkness. It hid him from the Fylgja’s sight and forced Tezka to stop his attack.
Darkness was the bane of Abominations and turned their own Chaos against them. Every time the tails missed their target, they would get damaged by Black Shroud while also robbing the spell of the light element.
The resulting Chaos magic couldn’t harm the blue-robed man since it was comprised of his own mana but it dealt a massive amount of damage to Tezka.
“I knew it! You’re not a random psycho but an expert mage.” The Fylgja said in amazement. “Too bad that compared to me you are nothing but a cub!”
The fur on the tip of his seventh tail opened, revealing the tier five gravity spell, Titan Fall. Once a Fylgja mastered all elements, they would grow an additional tail for each branch of magic that they mastered.
Like most dimensional mages, Tezka also had a knack for gravity magic. His tails allowed him to store any kind of spell indefinitely, no matter their complexity, without putting any burden on his mind or core.
Titan Fall increased the gravity of the blue-robed mage one hundred folds, making him fall from the skies and unto the ground like a meteor. His bones cracked under the pressure, piercing through his muscles and puncturing his organs.
Then, Tezka turned the fake Fallmug into the center of gravity, making everything within Titan Fall’s area of effect fall towards him. The gravitational pull that the blue-robed man now created made rock, trees, and dirt pile up on him, enveloping him into a perfect sphere that became denser with each passing second.
‘What a moron.’ Tezka thought. ‘The danger of enveloping yourself in a spell is that the enemy can’t see you, but you can’t see the enemy either. If not for his self-inflicted blindness, I would have never gotten the opportunity to use a gravity spell.
‘These babies are powerful, but a simple Blink and I would have just wasted a crapload of man- Wait a minute!’
The Spirit Tail fused back with him, restoring Tezka’s full power and giving him back the Suneater armor and more importantly, Endless Night.
The use of such a powerful gravity field had hindered Tezka’s dimensional awareness but now that he had the blade in his hand, he could filter the interferences caused by Titan Fall and notice a spatial ripple that until that moment had escaped his notice.
He temporarily blocked the effect of Titan Fall and cut the sphere asunder, discovering that it was empty.
‘Son of a bitch!’ The Fylgja thought in outrage. ‘He used the sphere of darkness to cloud my vision and Blink away. If only I was an Awakened or at least I had Endless Night, I would have never missed the appearance of an exit point!
‘If only I was still able to cast with my body like back when I had a violet core, I wouldn’t have been limited by the number of spells I can store in my tails and not even an entire army could have stopped me from killing that bastard!’
Tezka cursed his fallen status for a while until a powerful ripple of mana made the ground quake and the air tremble.
Lith had just crossed over the Warp Gate in the barn and Salaark was with him. Their rage was terrible and their mystical senses scoured the area, but aside from corpses, there was no one left they could use to vent their anger.
Lith was livid at the copycat and himself. Ever since he had gone to the Desert, he would keep the Council amulet inside his pocket dimension whenever he was training his Origin Flames or with the Eyes of Menadion.
After all, only a few people had his rune and they were all so powerful that they would hardly need his help. It was the reason why Xenagrosh had failed to contact him.
After the kids had returned to the Desert and to their respective mothers’ embrace, it had taken Elina and Rena a while to calm them down enough to make sense of their words.
Abominus and Onyx had lost too many of their brethren to care for the appearances so they spoke for the first time, explaining the situation to the two women and making them faint.
Luckily, the people of the Desert were used to converse with magical beasts and relayed the information to the Overlord. After that, it had taken Salaark the time of a Blink to fetch Lith and another to reach the Warp Gate.
Yet despite their haste, they had arrived only when everything was over… After Vastor’s arrival, between Tezka, the Kings of the Woods, and the army’s reinforcement, the battle had lasted barely one minute.
Chapter 1585
Lith immediately took out his communication amulet, checking on both Kamila and Zinya, sighing in relief when he noticed that their runes were still there.
“What the heck happened here and why didn’t you assign at least one Phoenix as a bodyguard for Aran and Leria?” Lith said after finding the corpses of Brionac and Volgun, the magical beasts of Zinya’s children, and that of Captain Locrias among the fallen.
“Because they leave the Desert for less than two hours per day, in an area protected by powerful arrays and with a Warp Gate always available thanks to my influence. No seal can shut down the passage to the Desert.” Salaark replied.
“On top of that, I know about Tezka’s presence and relied on his protection. I don’t know whether to be more shocked by him giving priority to the Yehval children or by an enemy capable of holding their ground against him for more than one second.”
“You and me both.” The Fylgja said after Warping between them. “For the record, I didn’t give priority to Frey and Filia. The enemy just used Aran and Leria as a diversion, they never needed my help.”
The Abomination hybrid was panting in exhaustion. Using so many powerful spells while also controlling two bodies at the same time had taken a huge toll on his body. Unlike a pure Eldritch, a hybrid needed food to heal from the injuries and energy to replenish his cores.
“What do you mean?” Lith had a hard time containing the fury that ravaged his mind.
‘Taking it out on Tezka would be both pointless and stupid.’ He thought. ‘First, I need to understand what happened here. Then, I must find who’s responsible and make them pay.’
“It was another of the Balkor copycat’s ploys.” The Fylgja said, shocking his audience, Queen’s Corps included.
“He staged the attack on the kids knowing that the army and your magical beasts would worry too much about Aran and Leria to care about Frey and Filia. While everyone was distracted near your barn, he came to Zinya’s house, wearing Fallmug’s face.”
“What? All of this was just a diversion?” Lith was shocked.
Fallmug was yesterday news and was dead for almost two years. Zinya’s abusive ex-husband had played a very small role in Lith’s life and only a few people knew about the event.
“Are you telling me that the copycat not only is capable of shapeshifting, but they also have targeted the Yehvals on purpose?” He asked.
“Exactly.” Tezka nodded. “According to his words, if he really is a man, it took him quite a lot of effort to learn enough about Fallmug to play the part and terrorize Zinya, but she saw through the disguise. The copycat and Fallmug seem to have never actually met.”
“That’s interesting, but right now I couldn’t care less. I want to know where Zinya is now and why that bastard went to such lengths to attack her. She didn’t receive one of his damn cards!” Lith said with a snarl.
“She’s at your professor’s house now. As for the rest, that’s not up to me to explain. He’s waiting for you there.” The Fylgja pointed at the crater where once stood the Yehval house and a short round man searched through the debris.
Salaark hated riddles even more than Lith did, so she used her breathing technique, Mother Sun, to study Tezka from a distance and read his mind.
Yet the Fylgja noticed her attempt and vanished the moment Salaark took a deep breath. He wasn’t an Awakened anymore, but he remembered well the feeling of foreign mana trying to slip under his skin.
“Dammit!” She replied to Lith’s questioning gaze. “I hoped to get a sneak peek at Tezka’s new body, maybe even to understand how to help you to get a grip on your Tiamat bloodline’s skill. I don’t like those who try and keep secrets from me.”
“That makes the two of us.” Lith nodded while looking at the ruins that his father’s cultivated fields had become.
Raaz would lose almost one fifth of his next harvest, but it was nothing that money and magic couldn’t fix. What really pained Lith was another invasion of the place that he considered his castle, where he was supposed to be safe.
He felt akin to a man whose house had been burglarized. Things could be bought again or fixed, but the experience of having his turf violated despite his best efforts made his stomach churn.
“Grandma, please go back to the Desert and take care of the kids. I’ll deal with the rest here.” Lith Warped near Vastor, using Leria and Aran as an excuse to keep the Overlord away from the Master.
He didn’t need two of his best allies to start bickering, he needed answers. Also, in the case Vastor didn’t give him the answers Lith wanted, it would just take him a call to unleash the Overlord.
Salaark liked taking orders even less than she liked secrets, but she could sense the very essence of the Griffon Kingdom rejecting her. She was on Tyris’s turf without her permission which limited her powers greatly.
‘I could force my way in, but there’s no reason to squabble. There’s nothing that I can learn from here and my Featherlings need me. Also, in the case Lith doesn’t get an answer, it only takes him a call to give me a reason to kick some asses here.’ She thought while returning to the Desert.
“What the heck happened here? Why did the Balkor copycat attack Zinya?” Lith didn’t waste time with greetings or niceties. He had already guessed everything, he just wanted to confirm his suspicions.
“For the what, you just need to look around.” Vastor waved his hands at the ruins surrounding them, at the once luscious fields turned withered and at the mountain of corpses around what was left of the house.
“As for the why, I owe you an explanation.” The Master told Lith about how months back he had found the Future card under Zinya’s door and how he had taken it away without telling anyone.
“Are you insane? You have endangered the lives of Zinya, the children, and even of Kamila!” Lith’s voice rose in intensity with each name he spoke, making the last also the loudest.
“We may not be together anymore, but she still means a lot to me. How could you do that to me? How could you do that to Zinya? I thought that you cared for her.”
“I do care for her and more than you can possibly imagine. Why do you think that I left Tezka here all this time?” Vastor’s voice turned from sad to cold, not liking one bit the allegation in Lith’s words.
“You should have told me! You should have told the Kingdom. That way, we could have protected them to the best of our abilities!” Lith’s eyes burned with violet mana and rage.
“Stop speaking out of your ass and think, Lith! I know that you are better than this!” The black-violet light erupting from Vastor’s eyes and his genuine outrage matched the Tiamat’s, making the air around the two men crackle with power and brewing a storm above their heads.
Chapter 1586
“What could you, or the Kingdom, for that matter, could possibly do? You don’t have the resources nor the time to set enough arrays around Zinya’s house. If I revealed the existence of the Future card, I would have given the Royals the means to put you on their leash and destroy your relationship with Kamila!
“From that very moment, the Kingdom would have used the Yehvals as leverage to make you do their biddings. And for what? You’ve seen what has happened to Lark and Mirim. What has happened here?
“The copycat would have just taken their time to set up a better trap, brought along even more troops, and maybe we would be grieving our dead instead of having this conversation.
“My lie made the copycat underestimate our forces, yet look at what they have achieved. Without Tezka, no number of troops or arrays would have been enough.” Vastor said.
‘He’s right.’ Solus said. ‘Once again, the timing of the attack was perfect. Even with many more troops and arrays, during a crisis, the forces of the Kingdom are always stretched thin.
‘The copycat had won the moment he sealed dimensional magic and cut off the reinforcements. Most of our trump cards are already known and static arrays can be studied with ease. Even if Vastor told us about the Future card, nothing would have changed.’
‘Unless I brought everyone to the Desert with me.’ Lith replied.
‘And what about another moment when you were simply away?’ Solus said. ‘Had your family been there, the Queen’s Corps would have had even more people to protect and fewer soldiers to spare for Zinya.
‘Not to mention how embarrassing it would have been to drag Kamila and the others along after your break up.’
“What do you mean with, destroying my relationship with Kamila?” Lith asked after being forced to admit the truth in Solus’s words.
“How long would you two have lasted after learning that the safety of her family depended on your compliance to become a loyal dog of the Kingdom?” Vastor replied. “
“Be they Salaark, the Royals, or even the Awakened Council, no matter who you asked for help, their favor would always come with a price tag.
“After that, sooner or later your sense of guilt for dragging the Yehvals in this mess would have ruined your relationship. Kamila would have started to doubt her feelings, wondering if she stayed with you because she cared for you or just to protect her family.
“If I told you and Kamila about the card, you would probably be still together but there would be less affection between the two of you than that I feel toward my ex-wife. You would have stuck with her out of duty and Kamila out of need.
“This way, instead, you have been happy, living together because you wanted to, not because fear forced you to.” Vastor sighed deeply as his rage faded away and so did Lith’s.
“The copycat attacked at the worst possible moment, bringing along an army of elite troops. Even if you had the power to keep the Phoenixes here, he would have just waited longer.
“Let’s be honest. You lack the power and the resources to protect so many people and you already had a lot on your plate. I just did all I could to relieve your burden. Do you think that you might have succeeded where Tezka failed?”
“No.” Lith said as the air around them stopped crackling with thunder and the sky cleared from the storm clouds. “Thanks for your help, Professor.”
The two men shook hands, each noticing how stronger the other had become.
“Can I talk to Zinya? I owe her an apology.”
“She doesn’t have a home anymore so I brought her to mine.” Vastor turned pale as despair twisted his face. “She saw me fight, Lith. She saw the real me, Chaos and everything, slaughtering humans like cattle.
“Zinya and the kids are safe now, but I don’t know how long will it last. Once she learns what I did, she will be livid and demand to leave my place. You should contact Orion and ask him if she can stay with the Ernas until we find a solution.”
Lith’s stomach churned once more, knowing all too well how Vastor felt. It was the same situation that he had found himself in after endangering Kamila’s life time and time again.
‘Gods, if not for Vastor, at this point Kamila would already hate my guts. Ever since Night’s attack, her family has gone through a lot of hardships just because they were our neighbors, but this time is even worse.
‘The Balkor copycat doesn’t give a damn about our break up. Zinya’s life will be in danger until we find and kill that bastard. I bet that both sisters hate my guts at this point. It’s only my fault if they have a target on their back.’ Lith thought.
He and Vastor walked through the Gate in the barn, reaching the Professor’s Household with just one step.
The mansion was no way less magnificent or smaller than the Ernas’s. The floors were made of magic resistant gold-veined marble that, along with the many arrays they had been enchanted with, made them as sturdy as a mountain.
The gold-edged red walls were decorated with animated paintings depicting all the feats of the Vastor bloodline from its very foundations. Every single piece of furniture was a heavily enchanted work of art, making even flower pots a deadly weapon.
‘By my Mom! My mana sense is completely blinded. Vastor must have put his house on lockdown. The whole place hums with so much mana that it’s giving me a headache.’ Solus said.
Lith couldn’t care less about any of it. He impatiently tapped his foot, waiting for Vastor to lead the way, yet the Professor didn’t move.
“I’ve already contacted Constable Yehval and she’s coming here.” Vastor said in reply to the silent question in Lith’s eyes. “Zinya will need the support of her family to recover from the shock enough to tell us what happened.”
“What about Tezka?”
“Please, he was busy protecting your kids, keeping an eye on the situation, and getting rid of the traps around Zinya’s house that the copycat had laid before launching the attack. He’s a genius, but his attention was split into too many sides to be reliable.” Vastor said.
His reasoning made sense, but Lith’s stomach twisted into a knot anyway. Between the mental scar that might haunt Aran and Leria, the death of so many of his loyal magical beasts, and the guilt he felt for dragging Kamila into his mess, meeting her was the last thing he wanted.
The Gate flashed once more and Constable Yehval appeared, freezing for a second at the sight of the two Archmages.
“Thank you so much!” She hugged Lith tight while crying uncontrollably. “If not for you, if not for the magical beasts, Zin and the kids would be dead by now. I can never repay you for keeping them safe even after our break up.”
Kamila had done all she could until the Gate to Lith’s barn had been reopened, which amounted to very little… She had felt helpless, staring at her communication amulet the whole time while waiting for any news from the battlefield.
Chapter 1587
Now that everything was over and everyone was alright, Kamila lost herself in Lith’s warmth, venting her fear and pain before meeting her sister.
‘I can’t allow Zin to see me like this. She’s the one who went through a murder attempt. I need to be strong for her.’ She thought while Ilthin’s words about Lith still echoed inside her head.
Yet even though she found tenderness in their embrace, it only made him feel worse.
“It’s not me that you have to thank, but Professor Vastor.” Lith said, not finding the strength to push the still crying Kamila away while the sweet scent of her hair triggered countless memories and feelings.
“When I arrived, the copycat had already escaped. If not for the Professor and Tezka, there’s no telling what might have happened.”
“She knows about my Organization?” Vastor was flabbergasted.
“Of course she does.” Lith gently caressed her head. “I never lied to her about my dealings with anyone nor would I have kept her in the dark about who her sister is dating.”
Those words made Kamila doubt her decision of breaking up once more and made Vastor turn of a shade of purple.
“We are not dating. We are just friends.”
“That’s not how Zinya feels, Professor.” Kamila said.
“Not anymore, I’m afraid. Now, if you two are done, follow me.” Hearing those words and watching them holding each other was more than Vastor could take.
He walked briskly toward the guest room without even looking back.
It took Lith and Kamila a few whispers from the house staff to realize that they had been millimeters away from kissing for a while. They pushed each other away in embarrassment before chasing after the Professor.
Luckily for them, despite his short legs, Vastor had gained enough ground that they had to jog to catch up with him. It gave them the perfect excuse to avoid each other’s gaze and not talk about what had just happened.
Vastor gently knocked on the cherrywood double doors and waited for an answer.
“Welcome back, master.” A middle-aged maid with a round face and a gentle smile said after opening the door just enough to slip through it without making a noise.
“Lady Yehval has been waiting for you. She refused to sleep until she made sure of your well-being.”
“What? Zinya was still unconscious when I left her in your care, Nola. When did she wake up?” Vastor asked.
“The moment her children called her name.” Nola replied. “I did as you ordered and put them in her same bed after cleaning them and changing their clothes.”
Just like Zinya, the children had lost control of their bladder during the battle between the Professor and the mercenaries. Vastor had the house staff make sure that by the time they woke up, no trace of such events would remain.
The maid opened the door for her master while giving him and his guests a deep bow. Nola didn’t miss her master’s hesitation nor how badly his hands trembled, but she kept her eyes low and acted as if everything was fine.
“Is something the matter?” Kamila asked, wondering why both men seemed to have turned into stone.
“Kami?” A voice coming from inside said.
“Zin!” Kamila disregarded all of Jirni’s etiquette lessons and rushed inside, too worried about her family to wait for Vastor’s permission. “Thank the gods you are alright.”
Past the door, there was an ample living room with a tea table at its center, surrounded by several padded sofas and armchairs. The room was lit by porcelain chandeliers that used light magic instead of candles and covered the ceiling with an aurora borealis.
The west side had a reinforced glass wall that both provided plenty of sunlight and overlooked the mansion’s inner garden, filling the air with the smell of fresh flowers.
Kamila followed the voice, discovering that the living room had four doors, each leading to another room bigger than Kamila’s apartment in Belius. They led respectively to the bedroom, the bathroom, a library, and a dining room.
Zinya, Filia, and Frey had been accommodated in the bedroom. The place was decorated with soft silk carpets and enough closets to dress an army. The king size bed was so large that it accommodated all three of them with space to spare.
It was lined against the middle of the west wall so that by leaving the curtains open the guest would be gently woken up by the morning light. A white oak dressing table with a large mirror was placed along the east wall, beside a dresser filled with women’s clothes of all sizes.
“You have to thank Zogar and Lith’s friend, Tezka, for that. Without them, there’s no telling what that horrible man would have done to us.” Zinya hugged her sister and then let her free to check on the kids.
Frey and Filia had their eyes reddened from crying and filled with such a dread that they seemed to have lost their innocence.
“Are Volgun and Brionac dead?”
Frey said with a flat tone, making it sound more like a statement than a question.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know. I came here as fast as I could.” Kamila cupped their faces, feeling the coldness that still gripped their bodies despite the heavy blankets the kids had wrapped themselves with.
“Yes, they are.” Vastor said from outside the door, without daring to enter.
The children quivered in fear at his appearance and started to sob, hugging their mother with all of their strength.
“I’m so sorry.” Zinya caressed their heads while trying to hold back her own tears. She had known the magical beasts for over two years and considered them as a part of her family.
The Shyf and the Ry had been their playmates, their friends, and their bodyguards. The children loved them dearly and blamed themselves for the death of the magical beasts.
“It’s all our fault.” Filia sobbed. “They could have run away and gotten to safety but they chose to stay behind to protect us. Otherwise those men would have never caught someone as fast as Volgun.”
“It’s not your fault.” Zinya said. “They did it because they loved you so much that they feared losing you more than they feared death. Volgun and Brionac sacrificed their lives for your sake and would never blame you for what happened.”
Despite her attempts to console them, the children kept crying, reminding both Vastor and Lith of the weight of their own actions.
Nola entered the room, bringing two big glasses filled with warm milk and several drops of a sleeping potion. Between the shock from the loss of their best friends and the drug, the children soon dozed off again.
“Why are you keeping your distance, Zogar? This is your house.” Zinya asked.
“Because you are supposed to be wearing a nightgown and I don’t feel comfortable intruding while you are having a moment with the members of your family.” He replied, making her blush in embarrassment.
“Please, give us a minute.” Nola said with a smile before closing the door.
When she opened it again, Zinya was still under the bedsheets along with her children, but she was now wearing a day dress.
Chapter 1588
“Now you can come in.” Zinya said.
“Leave us alone and close the door. I’m not to be disturbed until I get out of this room.” Vastor said to Nola, looking her straight in the eyes.
“What do I have to say if someone has an urgent message for you?” The maid asked.
‘Tell them to go fuck themselves.’ He thought.
“Tell them that one of my patients has an emergency and that I’m currently operating them.” He actually said.
Nola gave him a deep bow and then left.
The Master listened to the children’s snoring, making sure that they were fast asleep before Hushing their ears. They had already suffered enough and he didn’t want to add any more to their burden.
“Frey and Filia are right. The death of their friends is not on their hands, but on mine.” He said. “Everything you three went through today is only my fault.”
“What do you mean?”
“Back when the Balkor copycat dealt his cards, I found this under your door.” Vastor handed Kamila a small piece of paper with the word Future written on it.
“Why did you take it without telling the Kingdom? Or at least Lith?” She looked from Vastor to Lith, incapable to know what to feel.
Suddenly she wanted to punch Vastor instead of thanking him for saving her sister. On top of that, the joy of her reunion with Lith had just been poisoned by the realization that if not for him, none of that would have happened.
‘Lith warned me that by becoming his girlfriend I would have been dragged into the mess that his life his, but I never thought that my choice would endanger Zinya as well nor that his enemies would target us even after our relationship ended.’ She thought.
“To what end?” Vastor shrugged. “Zin- I mean, your sister had already been a target during Night’s attack just for being his neighbor. Did the Kingdom worry about either her or Selia after that? No.
“That’s because that kind of protection takes time, money, and plenty of resources. Before Lark’s death, the cards were considered but a sick joke and after that, who do you think the Kingdom would have rather protected?
“A group of powerful nobles and Archmages that are the backbone of the Royal Court or a country housewife? Even if they assigned you a detail, would have they kept it after your break up? More importantly, would you have even broken up with Lith?” Vastor asked.
Kamila opened her mouth to reply multiple times, but the only answers that came to her mind sealed her lips tight and made her swallow a huge lump of saliva, making her look like a goldfish.
‘He’s right. Even if he told us, today’s events would have likely happened anyway. To make matters worse, the only way Lith had to protect us would have been to have us move into his house.
‘Even after he revealed to me about Solus’s existence, I would have never had the courage to leave him. Not because I still loved him but because I would have been too afraid for Zinya and the kid.
‘We would have been forced to marry despite our relationship going sour and Lith would have taken care of us out of guilt. By not telling us anything, Vastor did more than protect our lives from the shadows, he also protected our happiness.
‘Zinya and the children lived freely until today, unaware of the danger, instead of like caged like animals, fearing the next attack of the copycat. Gods, why things can never be simple?’ Kamila was now even more torn than before, wondering whether to slap the Master or thank him from the bottom of her heart.
“He’s right.” Lith said, taking the words out of her mind and rekindling for one second the feelings that Kamila had never been able to let go of. He stared at the ground out of guilt, incapable of looking Zinya in the eyes.
“Even though I knew nothing about the Balkor card, the death of Volgun and Brionac is only on Vastor and me. I dragged you into this mess. That bastard targeted you only because of my relationship with Kamila.
“It’s only because of me that you have lost your home, your safety, and have suffered the events of today. I swear that I’ll do everything in my power to help you and-“
“Thanks for your offer, but it’s not your fault.” Only once he felt the soft warmth of a finger pressing against his lips did Lith notice that Zinya had gotten out of the bed and was now in front of him.
“You didn’t send those men there. You didn’t taunt the Balkor copycat nor did you intentionally involve Kami in any of your business. You didn’t murder Volgun and Brionac, that horrible man did.
“Those beasts weren’t your slaves. Despite your orders, they were free to run away the moment they realized how dire the situation was. They did it of their own choice and I’ll never forget their sacrifice.
“As for the reason why my family was attacked, the copycat wanted to inflict you the maximum amount of pain and turn you into an outcast. Kamila has never been in danger. The kids and I were his targets all along.” She said.
“What do you mean?” Lith asked.
“Back when he thought that my life was in his hands, that man appeared in front of me and pretended to be Fallmug. Once I exposed him as a fake, he told me that he was going to kill me and the kids to make an example out of us.
“To make sure that no woman would date you ever again and to destroy your relationship with Kamila. His plan was to make her hate you and everyone else to distance themselves from you, leaving you alone out of the fear of suffering my same fate.”
“What?” Lith said in outrage.
‘This guy might be deranged, but he is truly cunning.’ Solus thought.
‘Even if Lith and Kamila married, unless they kept Zinya with them 24/7, nothing would have changed. Zinya will always be the weak link and the easiest target since her existence is irrelevant to both the Kingdom and the Council’
“I’m actually glad that he attacked me because otherwise, the copycat would have targeted Phloria’s sisters, if not the families of your previous girlfriends.” Zinya said. “Quylla already almost died once and those poor people would have had no chance of survival.”
“What the heck are you saying?” Vastor chimed in. “How can you be glad of anything that happened today? You almost died! Your children almost died. You have seen things that no one ever should.”
Despite his initial fury, he was incapable of looking at her in the eyes as well. His voice turned from a roar into a whisper the moment the Master saw Zinya step back in fear at his outrage.
“I know that it may sound crazy, but it’s the truth.” She replied. “If not for Lith, those people would probably have a long life whereas I would be already dead… I’m aware that I’m living on borrowed time and that if Kami didn’t date Lith, Fallmug would have beaten me to death.”
Chapter 1589
“I don’t know if my children would have suffered my same destiny, but I’m certain that they would have lived a miserable life. Their father’s violence would have corrupted them or at least poisoned their minds.
“Whatever life they had, they would have never known the love of their mother and they would have never opened up to others, afraid that strangers would hurt them just like their father did if not worse.”
Zinya’s words struck a nerve. Lith almost felt as if she was talking about him, making his stomach twist and churn.
“I may have seen horrible things today, Zogar, but if not for you two, I would have seen nothing at all my whole life.” Zinya stepped toward Vastor, bending down until their noses almost touched.
“I wouldn’t have ever seen my children’s faces nor their smile. I wouldn’t have ever realized how the pain that my ex-husband inflicted upon me also reflected on my sister. I wouldn’t have ever seen what a truly happy couple like Raaz and Elina looks like.
“Most importantly, I would have never seen what a good man looks like nor witnessed to what lengths he’s willing to go to protect those he loves.” She caressed his wrinkled cheek, making clear that she wasn’t talking about Lith.
“I know that I’m just a commoner. A woman with two children from a previous marriage who has nothing to offer to you. I have no money, status, nor any magical talent.
“I’m just a 34 years old widow tormented by such bad luck that my betrothal gift was blown up along with my house when you defended us from those men. Yet I’m going to ask you anyway.”
Zinya put her right knee on the ground while taking Vastor’s right hand in her own.
“Zogar Vastor, will you marry me?” Her words came out abruptly, making Kamila’s and Lith’s faces twist in a shocked grimace.
They even took a step back, looking at each other in disbelief.
‘That’s what Tezka meant by big news!’ The Master’s mind started to spin out of control as fear, panic, and surprise ravaged his brain, fighting for dominance. ‘That bastard knew it all along.
‘The problem is, how do I politely turn her down? I don’t give a damn about our difference in status, but I can’t put Zinya into even more danger than she already is. Sure, if we were to marry, she would start living here and anyone who tries to harm her would have to get past not one, but every one of my Abominations.
‘Yet I’m old enough to be her father and on top of that, she has no idea what I’m doing as the Master. The moment the truth is exposed, our relationship would crumble.
‘Either the Kingdom brands her as a traitor or she runs away from me, our destinies would be sealed. I would remain alone once again and she would lose any chance of being happy.
‘Zinya must be talking out of shock. I need to find the right words to reject her without hurting her feelings.’ Vastor thought while never averting his gaze from her sad smile.
Somehow, she seemed to read every single thought that was passing through his head. As if their bond was more than just emotional.
He took a few deep breaths to calm down, clenching his free hand to find the strength to say what he had to. The prolonged silence spoke volumes, making Zinya’s hands tremble.
Yet she patiently waited, without saying one more word nor shedding a single tear.
“Yes, I do.” Vastor said, his mouth connected to his heart rather than to his brain, refusing to care about anything but the woman in front of him. “But what will your children think about having such an old step-father?”
“They already gave me their blessing, silly!” Zinya started to cry with joy, hugging Vastor before kissing him.
Somewhere far yet near the Vastor’s household, in the Master’s secret underground lab, the Abomination hybrids spectated at the whole event thanks to Tezka’s Spirit tail always watching after the children.
The room erupted into cheers and applause as the Abomination-hybrids started to plan for the marriage. How to participate and disguise themselves among the guests soon became the main topic of conversation.
Meanwhile, Lith and Kamila stared at each other, their eyes speaking akin to a mind link. Yet there was no joy in them, only worry. Unlike Lith, Vastor had a bag full of secrets that he was keeping from Zinya.
It was only a matter of time before one if not all of them turned their fairy tale into a horror story.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make this awkward for you.” Zinya stopped kissing Vastor and turned to them, mistaking their concern for embarrassment.
“I would love you to be my maid of honor, Kami.”
“What? I mean, sure.” She set all of her worries aside and put her best smile on her face, to not ruin the moment to her sister.
“I guess that makes you my best man.” Vastor said while watching the two women, hug, cry, and make plans for a private ceremony.
“Why? I mean, sure.” Lith replied. “Don’t you think that Xenagrosh, Tezka, or any of your children might resent me for it?”
“I prefer not putting my new children under the spotlight.” Vastor replied. “As for my children-children, they have long since cut ties with me. I’ll invite them, but I’m not going to impose such a burden on them.
“You, instead, are the reason Zinya and I met. Also, it will give you a perfect chance to spend some time with Kamila without making it awkward.”
“Are you sure this is the right thing to do?” Lith asked with a whisper. “My secrets destroyed my past relationships and I don’t see why the same shouldn’t happen to you as well.”
“Right now, I’m not sure of anything.” Vastor sighed deeply as his brain and mouth started to talk to each other again. “This might as well be the biggest mistake of my life.”
“Then why?” Lith said.
“Because this way, I have still a chance to be happy. Had I answered no, I’m certain that I would have lived the rest of my life regretting it forever.”
***
After leaving the Vastor household, Lith went back to Lutia to assess the damage. Half of the members of the Queen’s corps he knew were dead and so were several magical beasts.
The three Kings of the Woods were still alive, but their forces would be crippled until the numbers of their followers increased once again.
“I’m really sorry for your loss.” Lith said to Reaper the Manticore.
“Thank you for coming.” The huge feline said while counting the dead Shyfs.
Now that evolution had increased his intelligence, he didn’t know what to do. Beasts didn’t bury their own. They would either eat them or leave them for other animals to eat.
Yet some of them had been his friends, others even children he had sired back when he was still a Shyf. The thought of leaving them to rot tore his heart to shreds.
“With this, I consider our debt settled.” Lith said.
“Well, I don’t…” Reaper replied.
Chapter 1590
“Ever since you gave us lessons about magic and provided us with enchanted equipment, the number of cubs greatly surpassed that of our dead.
“Our packs had grown so much that some of us would have been forced to move away to not destroy the woods with our hunger. Death is not necessarily a bad thing. The survivors will become stronger and they will pass their experience upon the new generations.” The Manticore said.
“Are you serious?” Lith asked.
“You didn’t ask us to fight thugs but to protect your cubs from menaces that humans couldn’t stop. The fact that none of us died until today was just luck.” Reaper shook his head.
“I consider our deal still standing because I’ve yet to repay my debt. Also, I want you to keep teaching me. I want you to give me the knowledge I need to make sure that what happened today will not repeat itself.”
“What about Lifebringer and Sentinel?”
“They share my same thoughts.” The Manticore waves his pawn, making the dead beast seep through the ground until they reached six meters of depth.
“This is my house. Those are my fields. Do you realize what you have just done?” Lith asked.
“I know that this place is called the Death’s Door. Consider it a part of our new deal.” Reaper replied. “When that fucker comes back, I want you to raise my friends back from the grave and make him regret ever approaching the Trawn woods.”
Lith pondered for a moment about his project to craft two unique golems, Raptor and Trouble, and decided that it was time to push their crafting schedule forward.
“You have my word.”
***
Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume tribe, later that same day.
When Lith returned, Salaark had already reported to everyone what had happened to the children in the Kingdom. The Verhens were still shocked, yet they managed to hide their feelings and to calm Aran and Leria down enough to put them to sleep.
The Crown had wasted no time, sending Captain Ruusa to replace Locrias and reinforce the security measures by expanding the area of effect of the already set arrays and adding new ones.
“Don’t worry about the kids. As long as you are my guests, I’ll have two Phoenixes escort them everywhere.” The Overlord said. “Also, I’ve ordered my intelligence services to start investigating this copycat.
“I won’t stand them messing with my blood once again.”
“What about once we get back to the Kingdom?” Senton asked.
“I’m sorry, but then you will be on your own. Unless Tista or Lith join my nest, I can’t assign my children to you for months just in the case that something more happens.” Salaark said.
“Not only sending my forces there might in the long term cause a diplomatic accident, but also I need to prepare for the war with Thrud as well while also keeping the undead under control.
“The long lasting peace in the Desert comes at a price and I can’t assign you so many Phoenixes without getting something in return.”
At first, everyone resented the Mother of all Phoenixes for her words. Then, they remembered how they knew each other for a very short while and that what they were demanding from her was no small thing.
Dispatching one elder Phoenix per child was something that not even the Royals could ask for their own offspring, let alone farmers. On top of that, Salaark had already given them a lot while they could offer nothing in return but their company.
Asking for more wouldn’t have been just rude, it would have also been unreasonable.
“How is Zinya’s doing?” Elina asked after seeing Lith’s sour face. “Tell her that she’s welcome to stay with us until the Kingdom rebuilds her house. I already spoke with Jirni and she told me that all the expenses are already covered.”
“About that…” Lith sighed deeply, making everyone worry that more bad news had yet to come.
Once they heard about Zinya’s marriage proposal and Vastor accepting it, however, they erupted in cheers and tears.
Cheers because even after Lith had broken up with Kamila, the Verhens had kept considering Zinya more than a good friend, akin to a member of their family. Tears because they had no other way to express both the joy and envy that they felt.
“At least something good came out of this tragedy.” Raaz said. “Who would have thought that Zinya would have married before Kamila.”
Everyone stared at Lith, expecting him to say something.
“What about you, dear?” Elina asked.
“What about me?” He echoed. “Kamila is still upset with me about Solus and I have no suitor at the moment. Did you already forget how Emperor Beasts who aren’t born from humans have little interest in anyone younger than 200 years old?”
Salaark had arranged a meeting between Lith and Mimeria’s daughter, but even with the charm that already having a violet core and being the first member of a new race gave to Lith, she had found him wanting.
The same had happened with most of the Phoenixes that Salaark had introduced to him. The only ones that had made their move had treated him more like a science project than as a potential partner.
Because of that, Lith had turned them all down, having no interest in such dry and pointless relationships.
Everyone sighed at the memory, but Solus was the loudest.
‘When the heck will I get my human body back?’ She thought. ‘Lith has gained the violet core for a while already and I’ve spent over half a month sitting over one of the most powerful mana geysers I’ve ever found.
‘I can feel the tower core getting stronger by the day and I with it. Yet the tower hasn’t recovered any new floor and I’m still stuck with an energy body. Am I just impatient or am I missing some key element that my artifact half needs to rebuild itself?’
“What about giving my sister a call?” Friya asked.
“That’s complicated.” Lith said to cut the conversation short and change the topic.
‘Phloria walked out on me just like Kamila did. I don’t feel confident making the first move because not only have we grown in different directions ever since the academy, but also because I’m her Awakened master.
‘If things don’t work out between us, as long as she is my apprentice, it would make things awkward as fuck and she might be afraid of my retaliation. It’s hard having a fair relationship with someone who holds your life in their hands.’ Lith thought.
‘It’s the same reason why Vastor didn’t tell Kami about the card. Otherwise, we would have been in the same situation I am now with Phloria.’
‘And you keep calling her by her moniker.’ Solus pointed out. ‘That means something, no?’
Pissed off or not, Solus only wanted Lith to be happy.
‘Solus!’
‘Yes?’
‘Personal space, dammit!’ Lith scolded her.
After a bit of quarreling with Solus, Lith explained to everyone the words that the fake Fallmug had told Zinya, making Friya shudder at the thought that the same might have happened to her.
“I have no time for romance at the moment. I can’t risk giving that psycho more marks…” He said.