"Nice to see you, Lith. This meeting is long overdue, I know, but I never found the right moment to tell you the truth. To answer your questions, yes, I know you're an Awakened. Yes, I'm the Master of whom you might've heard about.
"Yes, I suspect that you stole the violet crystal during the military training, and yes, Xenagrosh works for me. She's the niece I told you about so many times. Anything else?" Vastor said.
"How did you Awaken?" Lith asked.
"Nandi, my staff, and the breathing techniques from my children. Next question." He said with a chuckle.
"How did you get here so fast? Usually, it takes you some time to make up an excuse and get away from your work." Nandi asked and Vastor replied with a snap of his fingers.
The air above the Minotaur's shoulder distorted, letting out a small black fox.
"Surprise! My Spirit Magic body is no fighter, but I can still use it to tail someone. Get it? Tail, because it's a tail." Tezka said with the high-pitched voice of a small child.
"Have you been following me the entire time?" Nandi said in outrage.
"Of course he did. Under my request." Vastor said. "As long as you have conflicting loyalties, I have to keep an eye on you because even though you trust these undead, I don't. Show your powers to the wrong person and they will happily cut you apart to understand our secrets."
"Be honest with me. Have you sent Tezka after me for my own good or yours?"
"Both. The two things aren't mutually exclusive. Quite the contrary." Vastor replied. "Now if we're done with the questions, tell me why I'm here."
Lith and Solus were still too shocked to speak, just like everyone else in the room but Nandi and Baba Yaga. She explained the situation to Vastor, using hard-light constructs to reproduce her findings without exposing the existence of the Eyes.
"Nandi is right, this is very similar to my own work." The Master looked at Light Mastery with envy and studied it thoroughly thanks to the staff. "I've got bad news and horrible news. Which one do you want to hear first?"
"The bad news." The Mother replied with a firm voice.
"Whoever is behind this, it's an expert of light magic, just like me. Also, they derived this Ambrosia by condensing the life force of several undead through Arthan's Madness." Vastor said after studying the two Emperor Beasts with Beyonder's Eye, his breathing technique.
"Are you sure of it?" Baba Yaga clenched her fists in outrage.
"Yes. The news about the use of Forbidden Magic might force the Council to move its a.s.s, but it will probably be too late. Judging from these failed prototypes, the project is already in its final phase, I'm sorry." Vastor gave her a polite bow of condolences.
"What about the horrible news?" Lith asked.
"Kalla is only partially right about the Emperor Beasts. Sure, many must have taken part to the project of their free will, but the blood of these creatures is too varied and rich to not have demanded several sacrifices.
"My bet is that they lured their most useless or despised siblings into a trap and used them as research material. A hero needs victims to avenge, after all. The altered Emperor Beasts can blame the undead for the death of their siblings and make their return to the fold even more glorious." Vastor proved to be shrewder than Lith.
Horror froze the Emperor Beasts in the room, especially Scarlett. For some reason, the image of Sedra the Hydra, her godson, kept appearing in her mind.
"If we're done, I really got to go. War waits for no one." Vastor turned around, tracing a circle in the air with his hand and forming another black hole.
"War? What war?" Lith stopped him. He still had lots of questions for Vastor, but they would have to wait.
A war meant a threat beyond his control and maybe even beyond that of the creatures guarding his home.
"For a few days now, the cold war with the undead has escalated into a full-scale war, Lith. The Kingdom needs its Highmasters more than ever. If even Manohar mobilized, I can't leave our people alone." Vastor said.
"Why didn't I hear anything about this?"
"Kid, you choose to be an outsider. You're just reaping what you sow. The undead attack only a few cities at a time so we still managed to keep it a secret to the general p-"
"Enough!" Baba Yaga roared, cutting the Master short. "Lith is but a child and he needs to be protected. Don't involve him into a mess bigger than he is."
"He may be a child, but as an undead Abomination, Lith belongs to my little family much more than he does to yours. Don't you dare mess with our business when you did nothing for either of us until now!" Vastor unleashed a black-violet aura while Baba Yaga released the power of her white core.
"Impudent child! You've yet to live a single life and you dare to lecture me?" The black and white auras clashed, swirling around and pushing everyone against the walls with the strength of a hurricane.
And they had yet to weave a single spell.
"Of course I dare. I took care of him to the best of my abilities until now. If Lith doesn't know the truth, he cannot protect his family nor can he prepare for what is about to come!" Vastor snarled.
"Enough!" Lith yelled, shutting both of them up and making the room quiet again. "I already have two human parents and two Emperor Beast parents. The last thing I need is two undead parents who try to control my life!
"I don't belong to any of you, only to myself. Please, Professor, continue."
"As I was saying, the war is still a secret. You are an outsider so no one will tell you anything unless we need your help but so far everything was fine. We always repelled the undead with minimal casualties thanks to my Organization and the Council."
"Then what's the rush? Why call both you and Manohar?" Lith asked.
"Because the Hors.e.m.e.n have joined the fray. They are attacking three of the greatest cities of the Kingdom as we speak in an attempt to cripple our strength. Belius, Prode, and Vesta are under attack respectively by Dawn, Dusk, and Night." He replied.
The destruction of Belius would have left the border of the Kingdom open, allowing the undead to freely share resources with their brethren in the Empire. Prode was the granary of the Kingdom, the city where the food was stockpiled for the winter and ready to be sent where needed.
The cold season had already started and without Prode, one-third of the Kingdom was likely to starve to death before spring arrived. Vesta, instead, was the main hub of the Dimensional Gate system, holding the database of the coordinates and passwords for every city Gate.
Without it, transportation between the cities would be much slower because mages would have to input them by hand each time.
"What about my family? Are they still safe? This would be the perfect moment to strike!" Lith said.
