Lith’s face showed only spite at Orpal, Solus’ focus as she deciphered the Sealed Space spell, and Elina’s utter despair.
“I‘ve visited the Golden Griffon enough times to draw an accurate map of it.“ The Dead King said. “Vlfith your DoLorean, we can invade it and move so quickly that Thrud won’t be able to rearrange the rooms before we Spirit Warp forward.
“While our soldiers slaughter hers, we’ll reach the core of the Golden Griffon. I’ll keep Thrud busy and buy you enough time to destroy it.
Without that lost city, she’s nothing.
“After you get rid of the power core of the academy, we only have to run away and the battle will be won. The Council and the Royals will do the rest, exhausting their forces to take Thrud down along with her now mortal but still powerful army.
“Once they are done, while they are at their weakest, we’ll strike.
Without the Royals and the Council, the Griffon Kingdom will be ours to take. I’ll be its Eternal King while you’ll become my trusted second in command.”
Orpal’s voice rose in intensity as he spoke, the images that he was describing almost visible to his eyes. He could already see himself sitting on the throne, finally achieving the respect he deserved and with his hated brother as his first slave.
“Are you insane?” Lith said, making the bubble pop. “You need my Demons, my crafts, my weapons, ad my expertise. l wouldn’t even accept sharing the Kingdom with you, let alone serving you. Give me one good reason I should do it.”
“Because I’m not going to leave you a choice.” Orpal said with a huge grin on his face.
He had been waiting for that question and seeing his plan running on track according to his schedule filled him with joy. I-Ie had learned everything he could from Lith’s raid on his mansion.
Inside the Sealed Space spell communications were cut off. There was not enough world energy for a full breath of Origin or Void Flames,
no way to bring his loved ones to safety, or even the possibility to cast whatever had darkened Derios.
Orpal had taken a page from Lith’s book, preparing several contingency measures for that meeting. Even the arrays that blinded mystical senses and his Thralls were just two of them.
I-Ie was certain to have cornered Lith. To have already put a leash on his neck, a muzzle on his face, and a cage around him. They were all invisible and Orpal couldn’t wait for the moment when Lith would notice them.
“You have stolen my stuff. That wasn’t very brotherly of you, but I’m a forgiving man and I’ll allow you to keep it. Consider it your advance payment for your allegiance and the first batch of materials for your crafts.
“For fairness, however, I need to take something of yours. Just to make sure that you don’t get funny ideas. Mom and your girlfriends are coming with me.” Orpal said, making Lith’s eyes go wide.
As he clenched his teeth, dark clouds gathered above the Heavenly Wolf restaurant and the sound of distant thunder echoed.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep them safe and sound for you and give them back once Thrud is dead. Worst case scenario, I hope you don’t mind your older brother getting a taste of—” A low rumble in the ground had grown in intensity until Orpal sensed it below his feet.
“What do you think you are doing? Stop immediately or I’ll kill them here and now!”
“I’m not doing anything.” Lith said while his eyes bumed with mana and his aura filled the sealed space, making the borders of the spell visible to the naked eye. “lf I had such power, I would have used it to smite you, not wasted it in theatrics!”
‘Night, what’s happening? Isn’t Sealed Space supposed to block him?‘
Orpal asked while the pressure that Lith exerted made the Dead King suddenly doubt his allegedly perfect plan.
‘It is. There’s no way your brother can cause a quake and a storm so quickly. 1t’s beyond him. It’s something beyond even you, me, and Moonlight.’ The Horseman could speak because the information was of no help to her host.
Quite the contrary, it made his fear and anxiety grow. Night had meant to shut up, but panic had gotten the best of her.
Fear or not, she was right. Lith wasn’t doing anything. It was Mogar resonating with him, singing their call and waiting for his reply. There was no way to seal the planet off those they were interested in.
The air they breathed was Mogar, the soil they walked was Mogar,
and even the world energy that empowered the Sealed Space was Mogar. No one could get rid of them more than they could shake off their own shadow.
Lith felt the call of the tribulation, yet he had no idea what Mogar wanted from him. At the same time, he could feel his mana core stirring against the fetters of the deep violet that hindered its growth.
The mana core was begging Lith to remove the chains, clawing and slamming against its cage to escape.
Yet Lith had no idea how to do that either. There was no mystical sixth sense guiding him nor did the Tiamat form come with a convenient instruction manual. He had discussed the issue countless times with everyone who knew he was an Awakened yet the answer kept evading him
‘What the fuck am I supposed to do?‘ He asked Solus.
‘I don’t know!’ She replied, racking her brain and even using the Eyes to understand what was happening but to no avail.
“l have a counter offer.” Since everyone seemed to want something from him, Lith decided that it was time to unleash the fury that he had bottled up until that moment, hoping that it was the right answer.
“Let Kami go, let me Warp everyone to safety, and in exchange, I’ll give you a painful but not too slow death.”
“Kami?” Orpal said with a laugh. “How cute of you. Let me make you a counter counter-offer.”
At a snap of his fingers, a Nightwalker emerged from the shadow of Elina’s seat. Orpal couldn’t fill the restaurant with Thralls without the risk of his paranoid brother noticing them nor could he use undead that would be paralyzed or killed by the midday sun.
What he could do was bribe humans and use them to carry his soldiers with their shadows once Lith was done sweeping the place.
The Nightwalker Thrall was a young woman with a thin build and a powerful enchanted knife pointed at Elina’s throat. Her aim wasn’t to kill the hostage. Just to make her bleed and command respect into the Tiamat.
Yet the blade never reached its target.
A second shadow rose from the table quicker than the first, clenching the Nightwalker’s wrist with a grip of steel.
“Keep your fucking hands off my mother.” Trion Proudstar, aka Trion Verhen, stood almost two meters (6‘6″) tall in his one—eyed demon form.
He had never left Night’s side since the day she had killed him, waiting for an opportunity to exact his revenge or at least warn his family of the danger they were in.
