Salaark hated the idea of sitting back and letting Leegaain have all the fun but he had done it for her in the past.
‘It’s only right that I return the favor.’ She thought as she sealed an area spanning ten kilometers into an emerald dome.
“Fair enough, but I don’t want either the child or the mother to hear or feel anything that might upset them. Are we clear, young sparrow?” Leegaain recalled his Dragon Fear, giving the Griffons the opportunity to struggle for their lives.
“Crystal.” Salaark nodded.
Vhar and the other Griffons tried to Warp away after deactivating their space-compressing array but they couldn’t get past the emerald barrier. To make matters worse, the quake below their feet grew more violent by the second, and white-hot magma gushed from the crevices.
The sky offered them no haven either due to the brewing thunderstorms and the increasing number of tornadoes pulling at them from every side, threatening to swallow the Divine Beasts and tear them apart.
“Give everything you got!” Vhar took point and conjured the spirit element for the Silverwing’s Annihilation.
The seven Griffons poured every drop of silver lightning they had into the anti-Guardian spell, multiplying its might by ten times, then twenty, and reaching a might nearing thirty times the power of a regular Annihilation.
They could have pushed it further, but their flesh was already tearing up and their violet cores were close to cracking under the strain of handling such an unnatural mana flow.
Were the Griffons to infuse themselves with one more spark of Life Maelstrom, they would explode and the anti-Guardian spell would scatter aimlessly, saving Leegaain the trouble of killing them.
The Father of All Dragons took the seven elemental pillars head-on, intercepting them with Gift of Wrath. The blade burst into bright violet Origin Flames that quickly turned white.
The Annihilation smothered the Primordial Flames and cracked the Davross of the blade, a testament to Lochra Silverwing’s genius and the sheer power of Tyris’ bloodline.
“Impressive.” The Lord of Wisdom scoffed, replacing the white fire with his Immortal Flames.
The emerald fire generated by his life force ate at the seven pillars and spread back to their casters, eating at their mana like dry grass. The Griffons poured their cores into the Annihilation to repel the Immortal Flames until they had no mana left.
The emerald fire broke through their defenses, melting their equipment into pools of bubbling Adamant. Then, it seeped under their feathers, burning their flesh and cauterizing their blood vessels.
Bolts of lightning from the storm sent them into seizures while thunderclaps burst their eardrums and swallowed their screams of agony. The tornadoes sucked in the magma and the helpless Griffons, the air currents tore the Divine Beasts apart while the heat burned them inside out.
“Can you please stop?” Kamila couldn’t see or hear anything from inside the barrier on Leegaain’s palm but she could still imagine what was happening and it scared her anyway.
“Why? Do you really think they deserve mercy after what they did? Knowing what they wanted to do to you and your child?” Leegaain was furious yet his voice was calm and soothing.
Even if he wanted, every fiber of his being would rather turn itself upside down than threaten the woman carrying his blood. With each beat of her heart, the small life inside her grew, burning brighter in the Guardian’s eyes.
“No farming way!” Kamila’s voice oozed so much spite that there was none left for the rest of Mogar. “They can farm themselves to farming death in Salaark’s Pits of Agony until the end of times for what I care.
“I’m worried about Kigan. Please, spare his life, Grandpa. He almost died for me. For us.” She grabbed Leegaain’s gigantic thumb and turned her skin into Dragon Scales to let him know how much the Dark Phoenix’s sacrifice meant for her.
“Fine!” The Father of All Dragons couldn’t say no to her and he wouldn’t fare any better for nine more months, give or take.
“I like your ideas, Featherling. Both of them.” A snap of Salaark’s fingers healed the Griffons enough to ensure they would reach the Pits of Agony alive before Warping them to the Blood Desert.
“I have no time to waste with those scumbags. Not when I have so much I can finally celebrate!” She caressed Kamila’s womb with motherly affection. “I’m a bit offended you thought me ungrateful, though.”
“What do you mean?” Kamila and Leegaain asked in unison.
Once the fury of the Lord of Wisdom abated and so did the elements, a second smaller emerald dome became visible inside the sealed space.
What was left of Kigan was barely the size of an adult man and it would have been wiped out by the mere aftershock of the Griffons’ Annihilation if not for Salaark’s protection.
The mound of darkness struggled to escape but to no avail. Even the shadows of the bugs were under the control of the Lord of War and rejected Kigan’s touch.
“Calm down. I’m not going to kill you, Bloodstained.” A wave of her hand dispelled both barriers.
“What about your promise to kill me the next time we met, Mo- Overlord?” Kigan half panted and half said.
He was so weak that even keeping a human form was more than his depleted life force could sustain. His wounds twitched in the attempt to close but without mana and nutrients the best the Dark Phoenix could do was stem the bleeding.
He had no mana left to convert into vitality with Rebirth Flames and the world energy around him wasn’t enough to rejuvenate him. Even though his body absorbed world energy as fast as it could, it was no different than putting a band-aid on a bullet hole.
“It still stands, Bloodstained.” A cold expression appeared on Salaark’s face as her lips curled up in disgust. “You have killed your own siblings. My children. You have betrayed my Nest and committed innumerable atrocities just to sustain the perversion you call life.”
The Mother of All Phoenixes stepped forward with her hands ablaze with white flames.
“Rest assured, Bloodstained, I will kill you. It won’t be quick and it won’t be painless. You’ll suffer everything you inflicted upon your brethren for as many years as your crimes prolonged your corrupted existence.
“Long before the time of your execution comes, you’ll wish for the liberation of death and I’ll answer your pleadings with the same mercy you reserved for your victims.”
Kamila and Zinya had never seen the Pits of Agony, they only knew of their existence. Salaark didn’t permit visiting them even to the members of her Nest, considering it a cruel and scarring experience.
Only criminals who were granted an opportunity for redemption would have a tour of the Pits of Agony, to show them what expected them were their pleas for mercy not followed by a drastic change in their ways.
Yet the two women easily understood what Salaark was referring to. They moved in front of Kigan to defend him, feeling responsible for his capture.
They couldn’t stop Salaark’s advance more than they could stop the sun from rising or the wind from ruffling their clothes.
