Dusk Court, the same day.
The Hushed King wasn't pleased with the results of the investigation about the events in the Belin mines. The Royals believed that the undead had killed or captured all the members of the battalion sent to protect the expedition, but the reality was much worse.
The Kingdom had lost no battalion whereas the Dusk Court had lost two of them along with countless priceless artifacts. On paper, the Undead Courts had dealt a blow to the Griffon Kingdom, proving their superiority.
The truth, however, was that the undead had never been so weak before. According to his spies, a handful of Emperor Beasts had been enough to wipe out both his armies. Beasts and humans seemed to be on the best of terms for centuries and they had allied against his Court.
To make matters even worse, the Awakened Council couldn't care less about the undead's predicament while the Master's Organization was eating them alive. The number of Eldritch Abominations on the entirety of Mogar barely reached a few dozens, but each one of them could flatten mountains.
The hybrid Eldritchs were even fewer, eight in total, yet the rumors said that every single one of them could go toe to toe with a Guardian and live to tell the tale.
Humans, Beasts, and Abomination had unknowingly combined their efforts, putting the undead up against a wall. In less than two years, the undead invasion from Jiera had turned from the Courts' opportunity to conquer the Garlen continent into a struggle for their survival.
"Why the long face, little brother?" Dawn asked.
The beauty of her meat suit and the radiance she emitted made Dusk's servants cry blood tears. To them, being in her presence was akin to basking into the sunlight again, arousing feelings they believed to have lost centuries ago.
"Why the smile, big sister?" Dusk replied. "The peace talks between the Abominations and the Council are progressing smoothly. Xenagrosh being one of Leegaain's firstborns is only making things worse.
"Soon the Abominations will be recognized as the fifth race and we'll lose the war for good. All Abominations were once fucking Awakened so the Council might side with them and help the hybrids to wipe out all the non-Awakened undead."
He slammed his fist on the Davross's throne with such strength that the resulting shockwave sent everyone but Dawn flying.
"I think you're overreacting." The Bright Day shook her head, making her raven black hair dance under the mystical lights.
"How could a handful of individuals be considered a race? On top of that, why should the Council side with them for such trifle matter?"
"Exactly because there are few of them. If the Council recognizes them as a race, then the situation would be akin to the Undead Courts waging war against all Awakened humans or Emperor Beasts.
"We need to act before it's too late-" Dusk's communication amulet cut him short.
Another one of the Dusk Court's branches in the Gorgon Empire was under attack and its Lord had forwarded a distress call.
"We need help! A Dragon is making short work of our arrays with its flames. The moment our barriers crumble we'll die. It's still noon and most of our members can't even move." Lyra, the Blood Witch said.
"That does it!" Dusk slammed his fist against his throne again, but this time it produced no sound.
The Davross turned liquid and wrapped around his Lich host's body, shapeshifting into both a full blood-red armor and a double-headed ax. Dusk locked the arrays of his throne room onto those of the Tarmen branch of the Undead Court and Warped to the rescue.
"By the Red Mother." He said, witnessing the majestic Shadow Dragon standing over 30 meters (100 feet) tall while she ripped through tons of earth and enchanted stone blocks with her bare claws.
Xenagrosh's four yellow eyes studied the barrier, using Origin Flames to probe its resistance and look for weak spots.
Dusk had no time to waste with banter and unleashed his tier four Gravity Magic spell, Collapsed Star. It raised the gravity surrounding Xenagrosh of one hundredfold, making her bones and organs collapse under their own weight.
Even the outstanding might of a Dragon was helpless against the laws of physics and Xenagrosh would have pooped her own spine if not for her innate abilities.
Shadow Dragons could alter their density at will, allowing her to lessen the gravitational pull long enough to dispel Collapsed Star by shrouding her body with a burst of Origin Flames that she released from her skin instead than from her mouth.
"Nice to meet you again, Dusk. I thought you were dead. You should've stayed that way." Xenagrosh roared as she unleashed a perfect replica of Collapsed Star upon the underground building.
'Damn! I had completely forgotten that she's Leegaain's blood. Xenagrosh was already able to imitate most spells after seeing them a few times back when she was still an Abomination.
'Becoming an Eldritch must have resurrected her draconic nature and enhanced her learning ability.' Dusk only had a handful of seconds before the building imploded, killing all those he had come to save.
Instead of feeding new spells to Xenagrosh, he wielded his ax with both hands and charged at her faster than a bullet. His host body belonged to a Lich and an Awakened at that.
The undead's physical prowess was already superior to that of all other races with the same body mass, but Liches took things up another notch. Not only were Liches able to manipulate their own body with their mind just like Baba Yaga's children, but they could also use turn mana into life force to temporarily increase their mass.
Dusk's slash struck at Xenagrosh as if he weighed several tons, easily ripping through her thick scales and opening a deep wound that went from her stomach to the left shoulder.
The raw strength of the attack produced a shockwave akin to an air blade that cut through the exposed flesh and ripped the tip of her left wing to shreds.
Xenagrosh didn't even flinch, letting her troll half heal the cut so quickly that by the time her fist struck at Dusk who was still in mid-air, the wound had almost disappeared.
'That's new.' Dusk thought while he crashed through the barrier protecting the underground base. 'The last time we faced, one swing of my ax, Firebrand, sent her running. Back then I failed to kill her only because of those damned Chaos spells.
'Not only becoming an Eldritch restored her draconic abilities, but somehow Xenagrosh has also obtained regenerative abilities on par with a Ghoul.'
Dusk's rage burned so fiercely that it boosted the red light of undeath in his eyes, turning them into two small stars. All of Baba Yaga's children hated Abominations because they often fought for the territory or the food, but Dusk was an exception.
He hated them more than anyone else.
Not only Abominations were capable of using all six elements, but they also had access to Chaos magic, something that the undead lacked. The Red Sun would often draw comparisons between the two races and found his own wanting.
'Baba Yaga created us from the necromantic energy of darkness magic, making it an integral part of our lives. Then why are those pretenders that even Mogar itself abandoned the only ones that can use Chaos magic? It should be us undead, instead!' Dusk thought.
