Rayne disappeared in a burst of black flames and War returned to Lith’s hand right when he was walking in front of Ufyl.
“No last stand? No quips or insults?” The Tiamat asked.
“Why should I?” Ufyl never stopped looking at the shroud and the body it contained. “I’m loyal to the True Queen but I’m no zealot. Today she betrayed our trust. Phloria’s and mine.
“Today I have no reason to fight against you. Just get over with it.”
Lith nodded, decapitating Ufyl’s seven heads and piercing his heart in one seamless move.
Unlike the others, he made sure the Dragon wouldn’t feel fear or pain. Ufyl was bound to feel plenty of that on his own the moment he came out of the rebirth chamber.
Best case scenario, Thrud would demote him for his betrayal and he would become a pariah among her Divine Beasts. Worst case scenario, she would strip Ufyl of his free will and turn him into a puppet. His fate was already sealed.
Lith respected the Dragon’s grief and how he had chosen defiance to protest against orders he deemed unfair.
The moment he was alone, the Tiamat fell onto the ground, panting. His body trembled from exertion, his muscles strained from wielding for so long a power that didn’t belong to him.
Not only had he been fighting non-stop, but his mana organs were under great stress due to the use of so many foreign bloodline abilities at the same time.
‘The silvery flames are incredibly powerful but also unstable. Without my Voidfeather Dragon form and Life Maelstrom, I would’ve never managed to conjure them. Even worse, without Mana Aura, I would have taken part of the damage.
‘I need to rest and recover. Not even Invigoration can fix such a mess.’ He thought as his eyes fell onto Phloria’s corpse.
The Void was standing right beside her with his eyes closed.
‘Phloria Ernas, you’ve been the first one to accept me. You had every reason to be afraid of me and instead, you gave me a home. I’ll never forget that.’ He said.
‘What would you do in my shoes?’ Lith asked amid pants.
‘The same thing I did once that bastard took Carl away from me. I’d hunt the one responsible until my last breath.’ The Void replied.
‘I couldn’t have said it better.’ Lith turned into his Abomination form, using the energy he had stolen, Life Maelstrom, and Invigoration to fix his energy body so that the changes would be passed onto his flesh and blood once he shapeshifted again.
‘That’s because you are me. Yet I’m not the one we need now.’ The Void pointed at the blue dot in the Mindspace where the Voidfeather Dragon was bawling his eyes out. ‘He’s a crybaby but unlike me, he’s true to his emotions.
‘Let him grieve. Let him share his pain with the rest of Mogar.’
***
A few kilometers from there, on the battlefield for the Golden Griffon, things were slowly but steadily taking a turn for the worse.
Attacking the lost academy from a distance was possible, but it meant giving Hystar the time to conjure his countermeasures and fix the damage he had sustained from the opening salvo during the ambush.
Getting close, however, had turned out to be suicidal even for Divine Beasts.
The Static Field array sealed even Spirit Dimensional Magic, cutting off every quick retreat path. The Golden Griffon shot Tower Tier spells like they were confetti and even being grazed by them caused crippling wounds.
To make matters even worse, the closer one got to the lost academy, the thinner the world energy and the stronger the boosting effect of the Golden Griffon over its students became.
Awakened had their bloodline abilities and breathing techniques rendered useless whereas Thrud’s soldiers had no such problem. The aura with which the lost academy shrouded them allowed them to fight at their full prowess.
The allied forces of the Kingdom and the Council were slowly being driven back, lowering the pressure on the Golden Griffon and hastening its recovery process.
“This is not fucking over!” Tessa jumped back to her feet with a snarl. “If we bring that fucker down and seal the academy inside an array, we can starve it enough to get in and destroy it.”
Fyrwal knew that it was a plan as desperate as it was unlikely to succeed.
The battle was still ongoing and Thrud had yet to come out. Even if they brought the Golden Griffon down, the Mad Queen wouldn’t just sit there and let them weave an array of such magnitude.
“Let’s do this.” She actually said. “For Phloria.”
“Must we?” Crank sat down as well, as sad as the others.
Both his deal with Lith and Tessa were blown. He would get no tool to practice Blade Magic nor a hot date. He didn’t feel like fighting, more like moving to a different country and drinking until he wouldn’t remember his own name.
“Yes, you fucking furball!” Solus slapped him so hard that the Hyperion felt his jaw loosening. “Crack another joke and I swear to the gods that I’ll crack your skull open!”
A dimensional ring appeared around his neck as Friya stared at the Hyperion in hatred.
“I dare you. Give me one reason. It doesn’t have to be a good one.” If she closed it, it would decapitate him.
‘I’d better keep my mouth shut and not tell them that I wasn’t joking. This battle is as good as over for me. Yet I’m afraid that if I say something now, they’ll kill me and turn my corpse into a toilet brush.’ Crank thought.
“I’m sorry for your loss and I apologize for my rudeness.” He gave them a deep bow. “Let’s kick Thrud’s ass.”
“Well said.” Tessa hadn’t bothered with the Hyperion and had been waving her Morning Dew Staff around.
Golden and green runes came out of the Yggdrasil wood shrouding her from head to toe.
“Let’s follow her lead!” Fyrwal used the When All Are One array’s mind link to share the Titania’s Blade Spell.
Everyone’s weapon was now encased in a hard-light construct resembling a staff and was weaving runes as well.
“What the fuck?” Crank said, taking the words out of everyone’s mind.
“Valeron taught us Blade Magic, runt.” Tessa explained. “Filly and I have our own spells.”
“Then why did we use Lith’s before?” Solus asked.
“What’s the point of using three different spells?” Tessa shrugged. “The destructive power is in the same ballpark and our weapons would need time to recharge anyway. Now shut up and focus!”
Quylla used her Injection spell to flood their bodies with tonics and nutrients, yet her eyes kept weeping. Her communication amulet lay on the ground with an empty space where until a few minutes ago Phloria’s rune had been.
‘I have no idea what happened but I’m going to make Thrud pay for this!’ She thought.
In her Throne Room, the Mad Queen sighed sharply as her happy dance came to an end.
“All of my Generals are back after failing their mission.” She sat back on her throne with Valeron the Second between her arms. “I don’t know what’s worse, so many Divine Beasts failing to kill Verhen or Ufyl’s betrayal.”
