“If someone comes at us looking for a fight, we don’t just give it to them. We beat them so hard and thoroughly that those after them think thrice before even looking at us. Also, innocents? Seriously?
“Those soldiers are trying to capture us and are willing to exterminate their targets if they fail to put a leash on us. They would happily doom every single one of us to a lifetime of slavery and then go back to their lives because of those orders.
“Don’t get me started about the mercenaries. People who would do anything for money and have a gold purse for a moral compass. Say what you want, but they are not innocent. You are free to not dirty your hands, but I will.” Zoreth said.
Theseus tried to step forward and face the Shadow Dragon, but Dolgus clenched his shoulder, forcing him to stop.
“She’s right.” He said, making the Bastet’s jaw drop. “Do you think that if someone tries to capture or kill me, I would just run away? No, I would fight back. I didn’t do it until now solely because the injuries you inflicted on me were too serious.
“Also, I couldn’t risk you having a fit of blood madness at the sight of violence and attacking me.” The Griffon took a pause, letting his words and the guilt sink into Theseus’ heart. “I don’t blame you because you have no control over your actions, but they are different and deserve no pity.
“If you just keep running away, you make them grow more confident and help them perfect their tracking skills. One day, they will discover a way to track your energy signature and you’ll be forced to spend your whole life on the run.
“If we retaliate, instead, they’ll lose all the data they acquired so far and with no idea of the reason for their defeat, doubt and fear will cloud their minds. We are Divine Beasts. We don’t relish in violence, but we aren’t sheep either.”
“I’ll do it.” Lith shapeshifted his clothes into the Voidwalker armor and conjured War on his hip.
“What? Why?” Solus asked, her eyes wide open.
“Marriage made me happy, not soft.” He replied. “These people are like those in the Kingdom who would gladly take me prisoner and experiment on me until the day I die.”
‘Whatever data they collected about Theseus, I’m not going to let it fall into the wrong hands. If anyone learns how to track Abominations, I’ll be the next. Once that happens, I’ll have no privacy, and people could follow me and discover the tower.’ Lith added via their mind link.
“Also, this is the first opportunity I get to put my new spells and body to the test. A simple fight against a human army, like the one that awaits me once I get back to the Kingdom.
“Or do you expect the Royal army to leave me alone if I don’t accept their terms? Or Thrud’s followers, for that matter. More and more people follow her by the day and I’m not going to hold back just because they bought her lies.”
Solus pondered his words, knowing that Lith was right. That Zoreth and Dolgus were right. The Abomination clone was in the exact same situation she would be if the existence of Menadion’s tower was discovered.
At that point, she would be left with only two choices. To spend her whole life on the run, putting in danger everyone she cared for, or fight back.
“At least give them a chance. Try to send them away.” Solus said, slouching her shoulders.
“I will.” Lith nodded. “You guys summon the Master. I’ll take care of the problem.”
He wrapped himself in a black cape and jumped toward the approaching army just as three black pillars erupted from the cave and reached for the sky, giving Vastor their coordinates.
‘I’ll be there in a while.’ He replied via the mind link. ‘It’s not easy to explain to your wife why you have to leave in the middle of the night even though your communication amulet is silent. Couldn’t you call me during the day?’
The grumpy, slurred voice was nothing like Theseus remembered it. Bytra and Zoreth giggled something about a woman called Zinya. They joked about renaming her the Mistress and asking for her permission before taking action.
The Bastet had no idea what had happened during those past two years, but he had never seen before an Abomination laughing except during a feeding frenzy.
Meanwhile, Lith stood halfway between the army and the cave, ready to intercept the mercenary platoons approaching.
Solus’s human body was almost depleted so she reverted into her energy form, with golden skin and hair. She floated a few meters above Lith, a flying figure in stark contrast with the sudden darkness that had invaded the land.
“Please, turn back and go home.” Her magically amplified voice resounded throughout the plains. “There’s nothing for you here but death. Don’t waste your life for something trivial like money.”
Many members of the army stopped in their tracks, mistaking Solus for the Great Mother and thinking that she had finally returned among them. Yet aside from the hair everything else was wrong.
She was too short and her skin was supposed to be silvery pale instead of golden.
They were discussing the issue when the cloaked figure below her spread a violet aura that made their skin crawl even from a distance. Lith’s Tiamat’s Fear formed a thick wall of mana that seeped into the world energy, extending its range.
The mercenaries were the closest to him and some of them went into a panic, losing control of their flight spells. Before they could plummet to the ground, their companions rescued them and had them drink potions.
“Calm down, you idiot. It’s just some kind of killing intent. Focus your mana and willpower to counter it.” They said as the extra mana from the alchemical tool repelled Lith’s.
“This is my last warning.” He was still in human form, wanting to try out his skills as a mage instead of those as a Tiamat. “What you are approaching is the home of Divine Beasts. Come at your own risk.”
“Didn’t you hear him?” The general rode atop of his hose in front of the soldiers to rally his troops. “Divine Beasts as in more than one. Imagine how powerful our country of Asato will become once they submit.
“Even if they resist and we manage to kill them, their corpses will provide us with plenty of materials for armor and weapons.
“Our army would become unstoppable. I promise you that whoever deals the finishing blow will receive a full suit of Divine Beast equipment and rise to the rank of colonel.”
Greed and excitement replaced fear as the general ordered powerful wands and alchemical tools to be distributed to the foot soldiers. Feeling the power of the elements at their fingertips and with the body-enhancing potions boosting their bodies, the soldiers felt invincible.
The army resumed its advance, the mercenaries took their time weaving their best arrays, and the black cape came off, revealing the Voidwalker armor. The goddess of light disappeared and with her any hope of survival.
