“Don’t be.” Strider rushed to Unanna’s side, making sure that his wounds weren’t lethal. “Losing Limbell’s knowledge is a tough blow for the Council but I think it’s for the best. His disciple was deranged and unworthy of trust.
“Your mistake saved us a lot of future trouble.” The Naga was in a critical condition but since he was still alive and his core was intact, it took the Zouwu only a few breaths to stabilize his friend.
“I’ll write in my report that it happened in the chaos of battle and that there’s no way to know who dealt the death blow. Everyone agrees?” Cheers welcomed the proposal and Unanna gave him a thumbs up from the only hand that already worked.
“My only regret is that the bastard didn’t suffer enough.” The Naga coughed out the blood obstructing his lungs.
“Thank you, guys.” Bytra had a hard time acting casual and holding her impatience back. “Great plan, Solus. It worked like a charm.”
“No, thanks to you, guys.” She replied with a warm smile. “Without your help, I couldn’t have stayed safe out of the fight and understood how his powers worked. Also, I had the idea, but you made it work.”
“Yeah.” Lith lied through his teeth. “I’m not going to lie, that mutated Redcap was terrifying. He could anticipate our movements and spells like it was nothing. I’m happy he won’t ever sire more like him.”
With that, he had justified Maergron’s mysterious abilities and hidden the existence of the Ears.
“Too bad I had to destroy his device.” Zoreth sighed, following his lead and pointing at the throne. “I would have loved to know how this thing could read the flow of world energy but there’s no telling how many of us would have died if I didn’t destroy it.”
“Again, sad but an acceptable loss.” Strider said. “I want to apologize to you guys. I treated you like shit from the beginning yet if not for your assistance my companions and I would have died at the entrance of the Garden.
“Thanks for saving my ass and taking my head out of it.” The Zouwu bent down, picking the Ears from where it had fallen. “I guess this is yours, Supreme Magus Verhen.”
He threw the helmet in a lob shot that Lith caught.
“You are welcome.” Lith studied the Ears with fake indifference. “You know what, this would look bad on me. It’s yours, Solus.”
He threw the Ears at her but a black-clad hand came from behind her and caught it first.
Solus would have fought the unknown thief but her limbs refused to move. Her strength was leaving her body as a red stain bloomed on her chest. One hand held the Ears while the other pushed a knife through her heart.
Rutha lay on the ground in a pool of his own blood. A female humanoid figure dressed in black stood behind him after cutting his throat to prevent him from alerting the others.
Lith’s shock turned into horror when he felt his bond with Solus disappear and her presence vanish from his mind.
“Solus!” He tried to Spirit Blink her to his side and failed.
He tried to Blink to her side and failed as well.
With no idea what was happening, Lith, Bytra, Zoreth, and his Demons charged forward while the figures clad in black ran for the door.
“What the fuck?” The bond returned as quickly as it had disappeared the moment Lith entered an invisible Sealed Space. “That’s why not even Spirit Dimensional Magic worked!”
He knelt at Solus’ side, feeling the tower sap his vitality to heal her wound and he gladly let it. He shattered the Sealed Space to tap into the world energy and used Demon Grasp to mend the punctured heart just in the nick of time.
Bytra was the first to reach the exit where a third black figure waited. Griffon Fetters bound her and dragged her to the ground and the same happened to Zoreth the moment she tried to free the Raiju.
When the Demons arrived, a fifth figure was done opening a Gate that sucked that four black-clad individuals in and then exploded on itself. Locrias and Valia used Domination to keep the portal open but their will wasn’t enough.
“How dare you?” Zoreth was seething with anger.
Her strength and Sky Piercer failed to shatter the mystical shackles and she was forced to slowly consume them with Origin Flames to not risk hurting Bytra in her fury.
With the thieves gone, the spells faded on their own.
“Who the fuck were those guys?” Strider was kneeling by Rutha’s side, doing everything he could to save his life. “Long-distance Spirit Magic doesn’t work in the Garden. How could they escape like that?”
Luckily, a bright blue Awakened’s body was sturdy and everything had happened so quickly that Rutha’s core had yet to start to fade.
“I don’t know, but you have my word that I’m going to find them and I’m going to kill them.” Lith held Solus’ hand, glad to see the glaze disappear from her eyes and be replaced by light.
“And I’m going to help you, lil bro.” Zoreth was fuming. Literally.
Steam rose from her incandescent skin and black smoke came out of her nostrils as the fire of her rage threatened to consume her.
“I don’t know or care who those guys are. I’m going to use everything the Organization has to find them and when I do, I’ll make them regret to have been ever born.”
***
The Chroniclers of the World Tree collapsed the space behind their Steps and then relaxed it. It was a method to make dimensional corridors untraceable that the Yggdrasil had learned from one of the best Dimensional Mages in Mogar’s history.
‘Well done.’ The World Tree said. ‘Now that we have the Ears as bait, there is only one more step of my plan left.’
‘With all due respect, my Liege, wouldn’t have been easier dealing with them here and now?’ Ghal V’horr asked while pointing at the other black-clad Chroniclers. ‘We could have just taken the girl after killing the others and brought her to you.’
They all wore Darwen suits that made them invisible to everything but regular sight and there were twenty of them. The rule was for one Chronicler per mission. Three when trouble was expected and five to deal with multiple Divine Beasts.
Never before had so many Chroniclers been assembled and nothing on Mogar could stop such a force. With the advantage of surprise, there was no way they could lose.
V’horr was confident even against the Suneater under such circumstances.
‘Fool, do you really think that Verhen would have let you get away that easily? That he would just sit there and let you use a Removal Unit? What if they fused? What if the ambush failed?’ The World Tree replied.
‘I know how every major force on Moagr thinks. How they will act. Every force but those accursed hybrids.’
Memories of Tezka’s last raid on the Yggdrasil’s Fringe sent a shudder down his colossal trunk. The Fylgja had got in, taken what he wanted, and left.
