Until that moment, Solus's long-lost aunt had spoken with nothing but affection whereas now she sounded like an angry parent.
"You've let this guy control your life for almost twenty years. While you lived like a pariah, he exploited your genius to pursue his agenda and rack merits that he didn't deserve.
"Yet even now that you're on the verge of getting your body back you want to make him immortal? Do you realize that once it happens, you'll be forever bound to him and with no chance of regaining your freedom?
"Your tower half makes you strong, but it also forces you to a condition similar to someone who wears a slave collar. If tomorrow he asks you to bark, you will bark, and don't get me started about much more disgusting stuff.
"This is not what your mother wanted for you. Ripha would never let you waste your life following Mister Murder here." Silverwing said.
"You don't know him! Your judgment is unfair. Lith spent countless hours trying to fix my condition or at least to offer me a real body!" Solus replied with anger.
"Really? And what did he achieve? Nothing! How much time did he spend caring for himself compared to what he did for you? We both know that the answer is: a lot. Do you think he would be as kind as you if your positions were reversed?" Silverwing asked.
"Maybe and maybe not. What I know for sure is that Lith did everything in his power to help me regain my strength, it's just that we have no idea what to do except for waiting. He offered to provide me with an undead body or a golem, but I refused of my own will."
"That's exactly my point!" Silvering couldn't understand how someone so brilliant could have turned out so blind. "He's a brat who has no idea what he's doing. Sure, not even I have a clue about what the heck Ripha did to you, but the difference between our prowess is the same between heaven and earth.
"My white core would make you recover much faster and by combining my centuries of knowledge with the power of the tower, it's only a matter of time before I come to a solution. Worst case scenario, you'd still be free.
"I'm already powerful as I am, I would never mess with your life, and I would never stop searching for a cure. You would still need to come to me to recharge from time to time, but once the tower goes back to full power, there's no telling how much autonomy you'll obtain.
"Your human body could last weeks, if not months. If you stay with him, instead, he'd always put himself first. Not only your recovery will be slow, but also there is no telling how much suffering you'd have to endure.
"You'd be forced to see him building his life while all you can do is watch from the shadows, holding back your feelings because no one can reciprocate them as long as you are stuck in this condition.
"To make matters worse, even if Lith managed to split you from the tower, would you really leave your mother's legacy, her masterpiece and final gift for you in the hands of a stranger?
"The best thing to do is to get rid of him now. If he ever achieves Guardianhood or even a white core, you might be bound to him forever. I'm not going to let my beloved goddaughter rot as the slave of this Abomination." Silverwing raised her hand while curling her upper lip in disgust.
"He's only one-third Abomination." Solus stood defiant in front of Lochra, shielding the unconscious Lith with her body. "I don't care what you think. He's my only family, my other half, and I love him more than words can express. I'm not going to let you kill him."
"Love?" Lochra echoed with contempt. "You've lost your memories, your personality, and got stuck to the first moron that picked you up. It's obvious that you convinced yourself you loved him. The mind does the strangest things to survive.
"I've seen it happen countless times with slaves before they got freed. They all 'loved' their master because it was the only way to make their misery bearable."
"I'm not a slave and my feelings are true!" Solus's voice seethed with rage.
"Really? How many people have you dated since you two have bonded? How many men or women have you let into your life that didn't receive Lith's approval just because you felt a connection with them?" Silverwing asked.
"None, but only because I didn't have a body. I-"
"You have no idea what love is, my child. You only know your cage and mistook the relief from loneliness and hunger for affection. Now get out of my way and I promise you that I'll give him a painless death." Silverwing cut her short and prepared one of her best spells.
She had no animosity toward Lith. Based on what she had heard, he didn't taint Elphyn's soul with inhuman acts nor did he force her to be his toy. Yet compared to the well-being of her beloved goddaughter, the life of morally questionable Awakened was irrelevant.
"You're not going to do anything like that!" Solus grabbed Silverwing's wrist, twisting it away from Lith while she channeled all the world energy from the tower into her body.
"Elphyn Althena Menadion, unhand me immediately." Silverwing found herself unable to move, let alone to break free from Solus's vise-like grip.
'It doesn't make any sense. She's shorter and lighter than me. On top of that, her beautiful bright violet core has been reduced to deep cyan whereas I have a white core. How can she be this powerful?' She thought while using her breathing technique, Ascension.
"I told you countless times, my name is Solus!" The small golden figure threw the silver-haired woman like a rag doll, sending Lochra to crash against the wall and squeezing the air out of her lungs.
'Good gods. Ripha, what did you do to your daughter?' Silverwing thought while Ascension provided her with information that didn't make sense.
Even though the tower had yet to fully recover, Solus's mass far exceeded that of a normal Emperor Beast, resembling that of the offspring of a Guardian. Moreover, she had both a mana core and a power core that worked in synch making it hard to understand the depth of her power.
"Who the heck do you think you are to barge here, inside my house, and tell me how to live my life?" Solus unleashed several pillars of golden hard-light constructs streaked with emerald energy all over.
They attacked Silverwing from every side, yet all she needed was a wave of her hand to shatter them and counter with a twin-headed spear construct of her own, aimed at both Lith's heart and head.
"This is how you mix spirit magic with Light Mastery, child."
Solus made the fragments of light reassemble into a thick shield comprised of several layers while attacking Lochra with the next best thing to a Raging Nova. Fire, air, and earth magic struck at the First Magus making the tower walls tremble, yet not a single ripple spread to the outside world.
