Just like the kids of the Verhen household, the sudden distance between their respective families confused the children, making them think that they had done something wrong at first.
Once their mother had reassured them multiple times, however, the trauma that Fallmug had inflicted upon them made Filia and Frey fear that Lith had turned out to be like their late father.
“Gods, no!” The three adults said in unison.
“Don’t worry, kids.” Kamila said while caressing them. “Lith never hurt me and he would never do you any harm. It’s just that he had many secrets and some of them are too much for me. I’m just sad, you have my word.”
Zinya thanked the gods for making children so blunt and yet capable of cracking the toughest armor. Now that she had an idea of what had happened, there was just one question left in her mind.
“Did he cheat on you?” She asked, making Kamila threw such a mean look at her to understand that it wasn’t that the case.
“Uncle Lith doesn’t cheat, Auntie. He always plays fair.” The kids believed they were talking about games since it was the only kind of cheating that they knew.
‘Either Kami suspected him of having an affair or she had a rival. There must be another woman involved.’ Zinya thought.
Yet while her sister knew Kamila enough to also see the pain in her eyes and to know to have struck a nerve, Vastor failed to notice it, misunderstanding the issue.
‘Dammit, they must have broken up because Lith lost his humanity after turning into a Tiamat. Poor girl.’ Vastor inwardly sighed, pitying Kamila, but mostly himself.
‘If Kamila couldn’t accept Lith’s real nature after being together for three years, what chances do I have with Zinya? We barely shake hands and unlike Lith, I’m more of a monster on the inside than I’ll ever be on the outside.
‘There is so much blood on my hands that it’s impossible to wash off. The things I’ve done as a Highmaster first and as the Master later, make even Tezka look cute in comparison.
‘I can offer my Abominations a second chance, I might even be able to give the Kingdom a more rightful and just system, but no matter the outcome of the battle, there are no spoils of war waiting for me except more fucking blood!’
Vastor looked at the tenderness with which Zinya hugged her children and took care of Kamila, wishing with all his heart to be worthy of such affection as well. Yet he was painfully aware of being too old, too dirty, and too dangerous for her.
If the Master’s plan failed, being close to him would made Zinya a target for all of his enemies. If it succeeded, instead, the Griffon Kingdom, if not the whole Mogar, would enter a new Golden Age, yet everyone would learn about his misdeeds anyway.
Having Zinya so close and yet being unable to reach her drove Vastor mad with fury. His wrath spread through the bond they shared to the Abomination-hybrids that protected the area, making his grief their own.
They immediately searched the area for someone so stupid as to threaten their family. Someone that would give them a way to vent their wrath in unspeakable ways that they had perfected over the course of the millennia.
Suddenly, a shiver ran down the spine of the blue-robed man and he found himself covered in a cold sweat. As the Abomination-Hybrids’ mystical senses scanned the area, he felt as if now he wasn’t just looking death in the eyes.
Death was looking back at him, spreading its arms to engulf him in a deadly embrace. The blue-robed man swallowed his pride and ran for his life, too scared to remember to use magic.
***
Golden Griffon Academy, Kellar region, at the same time.
It had taken Thrud quite a while to reach her destination. Moving with an army of Emperor Beasts wasn’t an issue so much as her growing cravings, fatigue, and appetite.
Her pregnancy gave her great powers, but the more the day of the delivery approached, the greater the problems she had to deal with. On top of that, traveling through the whole Garlen continent to pick up the legacies of her late accomplices wasn’t an easy task either.
Right after Xedros’s death, she had emptied his lair first since the Wyvern was the most notable member of her crew. His arrays had weakened after his defeat, making it a child’s play for Thrud to use the Sword of Arthan to take control of them.
After that, she had asked the apprentices that she had “saved” to lead her to the secret lairs of their respective masters, taking everything that they had and leaving only dust behind.
Traps, arrays, and even Golems could only submit to the Sword’s Domination once boosted by Life Maelstrom.
“You told me that the Golden Griffon is running dry on resources, my love, but with such a treasure, I’ll be able to teach and craft everyone anything they need.” Thrud said with a warm smile while Jakra caressed her swollen belly.
“Indeed. I would have never thought that such ancient creatures could hoard so many riches without using them.” The Emerald Dragon was still flabbergasted at the amount of mana crystals and unused Adamant that they had found.
“Magic suffers from obsolesce, darling. Once forged, an artifact is set in stone. They were probably waiting for something powerful enough to not waste the metal. Too bad that such a thing will never happen. There’s no time like the present to craft something good.
“On top of that, most of them lacked Origin Flames, and casting something out of impurified Adamant is twice the waste. Luckily, we have no such problem.” She playfully scratched his throat.
Thrud used the Sword and the Armor of Arthan to scan the arrays surrounding the lost Academy and find a way to override the complex system of magical formations without triggering any alarm.
The Mad Queen spent days outside, checking the arrays over and over until she was certain to not have missed any detail. Jakra helped her thanks to the Arthan set’s ability to bear two imprints at the same time.
Just like the original, it had been crafted as a set for a Royal couple.
Then, she used a powerful burst of Life Maelstrom to push the Sword of Arthan to its utmost limits and forcefully take control of the barrier system that sealed the Golden Griffon.
Once inside, Thrud was greatly disappointed by everything she laid her eyes on.
“Good gods, this place is a cesspool. Bedpans? Common rooms? Who’s the caveman who planned this place?” She said slaughtering her way forward.
It took the power core of the academy a while to recognize the energy signature of Arthan’s offspring. Thrud’s experiments had altered her body to the point that most of the enchantments left by the Mad King failed to identify her.
“I’m really sorry for the inconvenience, Your Majesty.” Sevenus Hystar appeared in front of her, kneeling and with his forehead touching the ground.
He wore an ample golden mage robe and was about 1.60 meters (5’3″) tall. Hystar looked to be in his mid-fifties and had long brown hair and a beard streaked red all over.
