“Whatever that thing is, we need to stop the thief!” Strider activated his bloodline ability, Flash Steps, supercharging his body with electric current and increasing his speed by dozens of folds.
The only silver lining in the situation was that as the bond between Solus and Lith became weaker, the pain and confusion he experienced lessened enough for him to respond to the attack.
Lith nodded and took Ragnarök out of its scabbard, focusing on cutting the blue chains while the Zouwu bolted against the enemy.
What he couldn’t predict was the enemy’s identity.
The moment Lith turned his back, Strider altered his trajectory just so slightly to stab the Tiamat in the heart with his first blade and in the right lung with the second.
The Zouwu was already close to Lith due to the healing attempts and with Flash Step’s speed, Full Guard and Lith’s reflexes weren’t enough to react in time to the betrayal.
“Rot in hell with your filthy living legacy, you fucking Abomination!” Strider snarled, his eyes filled with fury and his voice with the hurt from what he believed to be deception.
The web of lies Lith had weaved to protect Solus’ secret had been used by the World Tree to concoct the story that had brought the Zouwu to their side.
“You fucker!” Only then did Lith notice the Home Stone Strider had activated back when Vidun bargained with Solus.
The Tiamat felt his strength abandoning him as blood filled his lungs so he called upon his Abomination side who had no vitals. It also had the ability to suck the life out of the traitorous Zouwu and use it to mend Lith’s wounds.
“That’s my line. Die!” Strider twisted the blades as he pulled them out, leaving two gaping holes in the Tiamat’s chest that spurted a fountain of black blood.
In his hunger and fury, Lith turned around to suck the Zouwu dry and opened himself to the blue chains. The mystical constructs wrapped around the stone ring and slipped it off his finger, breaking the bond with Solus.
The pain and shock from the separation made her faint and froze Lith for a split second. It was more than enough for Strider to shroud his twin blades in the tier five Spirit Spell that the World Tree had taught him, Dragon Cutter.
Lith’s neck was thick and his bones dense. Even in his human form, he was still a Divine Beast. It was the reason the razor-sharp enchanted Adamant needed several strikes to sever the Tiamat’s neck, even with Dragon Cutter.
At the speed Flash Steps bestowed a Zouwu, however, one split second was enough. The Abomination’s head rolled on the ground, blood gushing from the wound flew up for over ten meters (33′) as the heart pumped to keep the body alive.
“Excellent work, Strider the Zouwu.” Ghal V’horr said while putting the stone ring on his finger and imprinting it. “You made the right choice. Your actions have saved Mogar and your reward will be just as great.”
“Screw Mogar.” Strider spat on the Abomination’s corpse. “I would’ve never done something as despicable as this if Verhen wasn’t an Abomination and took me for a fool!”
The first and most important crack in the Zouwu’s loyalty had come from the revelation of the true nature of the helm.
The World Tree had sent one of their emissaries to talk with Strider after the search for the missing Forgemasters. Ghal V’horr had introduced himself and shown proof of his identity before revealing he was the one behind the theft of the Ears.
The Zouwu had refused to believe the Chronicler, until he had been allowed to examine the artifact and discovered that it truly was the Ears of Menadion.
Suddenly everything made sense and, most importantly, it became clear that Lith didn’t care about anyone but himself and everything that came out of his mouth was a lie.
“No hard feelings about Solus being a living legacy?” The Chronicler smiled at the mention of the second master stroke of the World Tree.
Telling Strider about Menadion’s tower would create a competitor whereas telling him that Solus was a cursed object strengthened the Zouwu’s resolve. It explained the mystery of her relationship with Lith and made his lies seem much darker.
To Strider, an Abomination was already dangerous. An Abomination allied with a living legacy was a living disaster that couldn’t be allowed to prey on the legacy of the greatest Forgemaster in Mogar’s history.
“That too!” The Zouwu spat again. “Are you sure it’s safe for you to bond with her?”
“More than sure.” Ghal V’horr replied. “I possess not only my master’s knowledge but also his might-”
The stone ring rejected the elf’s mana and imprint. V’horr tried over and over, failing every time.
‘Master, the tower of Menadion denies me.’ He said to the World Tree via their mind link.
‘This is impossible!’ The Yggdrasil replied in outrage yet they couldn’t ignore the readings of their breathing technique, Root Cause. ‘I’ll send M’lak to collect her. You finish our business with the Zouwu.’
The Chronicler took the Ears and put them in Solus’ hands. Even while unconscious, the information was retrieved by the tower via physical contact and V’horr could see with Soul Vision that the stone ring had become more powerful.
Once it stabilized, the elf sealed the ring inside the Retrieval Unit again and handed it to M’lak along with Solus’ body.
“Use Gravity Magic or her weight will crush you.” He said and the other elf nodded.
“What was that?” Strider asked. “The Ears are mine! That was our deal.”
“Relax. I was just checking her powers. I didn’t let her imprint the Ears.” Another lie the Yggdrasill had fed Strider was passing the rumors Night had spread about Solus as true.
It had solidified the Zouwu’s resentment and his determination to get rid of Lith.
With that information, his ability to take down lost cities finally had an explanation. According to the World Tree, Solus had fed upon the Black Star and Kolga, using the energy of the victims of the lost cities to empower herself and Lith.
The only thing not even the Yggdrasil could explain was the reason so many Guardians orbited around Lith yet did nothing to stop his nefarious plans. With all the other pieces of the puzzle falling into place, however, Strider didn’t care about one single detail.
To him, Lith was a certified Abomination and a liar while Solus was his accomplice if not even his puppeteer. Taking them out was the least he could do to protect Garlen. The reward he was about to receive was just the icing on the cake.
“Here. Check for yourself.” V’horr threw the Ears of Menadion to Strider in the same lob shot Lith had used to pass it to Solus, making both the elf and the Zouwu smile.
Strider imprinted the artifact, feeling his senses expand until his physical ears started to hurt.
“With this, I’ll become one of the greatest Forgemasters of Mogar and maybe even a Ruler of the Flames. Any idea how to unlock the true power of the Ears like Maergron did? When he used it, there were cables and the crystals shone with a prismatic light.”
