'A layman might think that Quaron is being overpowered, but I know that in his place all of us would be already dead. The fact that he's still alive proves that he's not an opponent I can take.' Pelan thought.
When the violet Origin Flames engulfed Quaron, they burned away the defensive barrier of his artifacts and his skin alike. Darkness fusion couldn't protect him from the pain since the mystical fire consumed even the magic flowing through his veins.
His agonizing screams coupled with the smell of cooked meat and fat typical of barbeque broke the hopes of the citizens of Zeska.
Lith rode the shockwave until he was safe from the Flames. Then he followed Solus's advice and conjured a golden platform to resume his attack. The construct shattered from the sheer strength of his leg muscles, leaving behind a luminous trail that betrayed his trajectory.
Quaron inwardly thanked the gods and took what looked like a small baton out of his belt. The stick shapeshifted into a long pole ending at both sides with a curved blade that resembled a short scimitar.
At the same time, he activated one of the enchantments of his armor, releasing a pillar of high-density ice magic from the violet crystal on his chest. The spell was a mix of frozen air and razor-sharp icicles that would push the enemy away while the cold would weaken them.
'It's far from a deadly shot, but I need to recover-' Quaron inwardly cursed the gods for their trickery when Lith conjured more floating platforms in every direction.
Not only did he effortlessly dodge the pillar but by bouncing around like a pinball, Lith also turned the stardust from the broken constructs into a blinding curtain of light that hid him from both regular and mystical sight.
"Hi, Quaron." Lith appeared in front of him in a downward slash with War aimed at the traitorous Ranger's head.
He raised his polearm, blocking the blade with the staff.
A noise halfway between the crunch of cereals and the breaking of wood filled the air when Quaron's arms broke at the wrists, elbows, and shoulders. Without Gravity Fusion, Lith weighed several tons and the slash carried them all.
"Bye, Quaron." Lith pivoted with War on the enemy's staff, moving the momentum of the clash from his hands to his legs and kicking the hapless Ranger with both feet.
The impact overpowered the protective enchantments of the city walls, opening a deep crater behind Quaron while he coughed out blood. The Adamant armor had kept the hit from being lethal, but his internal organs had taken heavy damage.
Even the best enchanted armor was weak against blunt hits because a perfect kinetic shield would also paralyze its wearer.
The enchantment had no way to distinguish friendly from hostile energy and blocking kinetic energy also meant that the person wearing the armor would be incapable of performing high speed-movements of any kind.
'One breath of Invigoration. All I need is one-' War cut Quaron's head off and him short.
Lith also pierced his heart, just to stay on the safe side. The Adamant of the blade and that of the armor clashed along with their respective enchantments, producing white-hot sparks.
Yet even though they were made of the same material, one was a masterpiece wielded by a titan whereas the other was a high-end artifact worn by a limp body. It took War a second to short circuit the armor's mystical defenses and plunge hilt-deep into its mark.
The angry blade screamed with inhuman joy, making both Lith's allies and enemies take a step back.
"Open the gates. Now!" The blood rain produced by the severed neck of his fallen enemy didn't bother Lith yet it gave him a savage appearance.
Driven by fear and by the killing intent he emitted, the guards obeyed his command with the discipline of trained dogs.
'Quaron is still alive! Don't drop your guard.' Solus had never stopped looking at the enemy with mana sense in the attempt to understand the secret of his strength.
So, the moment the blood that still spurted from the fatal wound started to flow in reverse she noticed it immediately.
Lith had no idea what was happening but he opened his palm at point-blank range from Quaron and activated two of his tier five holding rings, combining two Final Sunset into one.
Fire and darkness weren't blocked by the arrays so they hit the fallen Ranger with their full might.
Or at least they were supposed to.
"Don't falter, my children! Not even the full power of the Kingdom can compare to that of a god!" A booming voice said, giving new hope to the citizens of Zeska.
Strong gales came out of nowhere, bringing with them black clouds that amassed above the city and formed a swirling maelstrom. Bolts of lightning coursed through the thunderclouds like angry golden snakes that emitted flashes of light with their every move.
At the same time, an emerald sphere enveloped Quaron's body. It protected him from the Final Sunsets and generated a pulse of pure mana that sent Lith flying.
Everyone could see the blood flowing back inside the traitorous Ranger, even carrying his head and reattaching it to the neck.
'Okay, that's not a god, just a Spirit Magic user.' Lith thought. 'Any idea how did Quaron survive?'
'You never killed him in the first place.' Solus said. 'The violet energy in his core kept his body alive after the decapitation and made his blood flow even with a punctured heart.
'Right now, that very energy is being consumed to heal his wounds. Quaron's mana core is turning into bright blue so unless he gets another infusion of that strange power, the next time you kill him will also be the last.'
"Who dares to threaten the children of Syrook and kill their champion?" A colossal figure descended from the eye of the thunderstorm.
It was a majestic Dragon covered by pitch-black scales, about 25 meters (82 feet) tall. A 12 meters (40 feet) long tail came out from the small of his back and every flap of his membranous wings produced gales so strong that the army's mages were pushed back despite the distance and the air shields protecting them.
The violet light coming from Syrook's eyes and the flames bursting from his mouth made the resurrection of Quaron look insignificant in comparison. Even the people that called him their hero had forgotten about his existence.
Yet while the citizens of Zeska kneeled in front of their god, feeling his presence breathe new strength and determination in their bodies, the soldiers surrounding the city kneeled in terror as the aura of fear of the Dragon broke their spirit.
Such was the raw power that coursed through Syrook's body that watching at him was akin to looking at an incoming tidal wave hundreds of meters high. Awe and fear made almost no one doubt his words, treating his descent like that of a god among mortals.
Almost.
"That's it? A Dragon?" Lith slow clapped the enemy's performance. "If it wasn't sad enough calling yourself a god you even talk about yourself in the third person.. I met countless arrogant Emperor Beasts but you get the cake."
It was the nobles' responsibility to inventory the harvest down to the last sack of grain and make sure that the city would keep what it needed for the next sowing.
All the buildings in Zeska were made of stone to protect both people and goods. Yet while a farmer's or a soldier's house was small, those belonging to mages and nobles were at least two-stories high.
Some even took an entire city block.
The streets were wide enough to allow two carriages to move side by side with space to spare.
If not for the tall walls that blocked the horizon and the lack of green spaces, Zeska closely resembled what Lutia would have looked like in a few years if the city kept expanding.
Lith had no trouble finding his way through the middle rim, yet despite his farmer clothes and his best poker face, he kept drawing attention. People would often point at him and whisper, sending a cold shiver down his spine.
'What the fuck? I've heard the saying "in tight-knit communities everybody knows everybody", but this is ridiculous. What the heck am I doing wrong to stand out so much?' He thought.
'I'm afraid that it's a matter of appearance.' Solus replied.
'Please, I'm not handsome enough for that in this form. Or are you implying that I was ugly in my first life?'
'Not that, dummy!' She said. 'While everyone else is going to the walls to check the situation, you are walking toward the inner rim. You don't talk with anyone, you don't look scared, and you have no plausible reason for going in that direction.
'Your gait is that of a man on a mission, not that of a scared farmer. I don't think that your cover is blown already, but unless you find a way to blend in, people are going to report you to the guards.'
Lith inwardly cursed and entered an empty alley after checking it with Life Vision. He leaned against the wall, racking his brain to make up a cover story or at least find a way to reach his destination in the quickest way possible.
The army had given him a map of Zeska that he had stored inside Soluspedia. Lith closed his eyes, focusing on the buildings near the city hall and the roads leading to them.
'Flying and Warping are out of the question. The buildings are too low and people would see me from the streets.' Lith thought. 'I could dress as a soldier, but without written orders, I would be sent to the walls.
'Posing as a noble isn't an option either. Even if the farmers don't mind me, the guards would stop me on sight. They surely know all the nobles and their guests and I'm not one of them. I can't change my face into that of someone I've never seen before.'
'What about the healer?' Solus pointed at the local hospital that was right beside the city hall.
'I already thought about that and dismissed the idea.' Lith replied. 'If I go there claiming to have the flu or a fever, they will just send me off to a minor healer. During a crisis, the hospital is for emergencies only and anyone healthy enough to walk doesn't qualify.'
'What about simulating a heavy injury?' She asked.
'I can't shave with magic, let alone inflict an injury. Besides, do you know what it takes to hurt me now that I've become a Tiamat?'
'Point taken.' Solus pondered for a while.
'I got it!' The Sage Staff appeared in a burst of emerald flames as she injected a bit of her life force in the pocket dimension to overcome the dimensional sealing array.
Solus's small hand appeared from Lith's stone ring, grabbing the staff and having it shrink to the size of a pin to hide it in her palm. She used Lith as a cover to assume her human form without anyone outside the alley noticing.
'What the heck are you doing? You can hold that form for less than half an hour.' Lith said.
'Wrong, I can move around for less than half an hour.' She replied while jumping in his arms.
Body Sculpting removed the colored streaks from her hair and raised her temperature by a few degrees. Lith could see sweat cover her forehead and hear her breath become heavy.
'You are not a suspicious farmer anymore, now you are a concerned man carrying her feverish girlfriend to the healer.' Solus said.
'You are a genius!' Lith said. 'And also quite heavy. I think that I heard my spine pop. You know that Gravity Fusion is a thing, right?'
'Less yapping, more walking, jerk.'
Lith walked out of the alley while holding Solus in a princess carry. People kept pointing at him, but now they were worried about the woman's condition rather than the man's identity.
"Is everything alright?" A man asked.
He and a woman were riding in a carriage that had slowed down after nearing the distressed couple.
"I wish, there's something wrong with my wife." Lith said amid what he hoped resembled strained pants. "After that crazy spell exploded in the air, she collapsed and developed a fever!"
At the word "wife", Solus turned to a bright shade of purple and emitted an honest groan that made even Lith almost fall for their own cover story.
"And you are taking her to the healer on foot?" The man was flabbergasted.
"One of the wheels of our carriage broke at the worst possible times and our neighbors are-"
"Guyll, you idiot!" The woman cut Lith short and brought the carriage to a halt. "How can you question a man worried for his pregnant wife?"
She pointed at Solus's belly that was further emphasized by the princess carry. She became so red and whimpered so loudly that the bystanders started to address the poor Guyll with mean words that made him turn as red as Solus.
'That does it! From tomorrow I'll cut down on comfort food, exercise, and cheat all the way down with Invigoration. I'm aware that I've gained a bit more weight after regaining my human body, but being mistaken for pregnant?' She thought while Lith and Guyll carefully lay her on the back of the carriage.
Lith had a hard time not having a good laugh at her expense but since he had a mission and knew from experience that there were few doors that a pregnant woman couldn't open, he decided to roll with it.
"Are you sure?" He asked the kind woman, pretending to be shocked and even more scared by the revelation. "I thought it was just a big scare due to the army at our doors, that monstrous mage, and Lord Quaron being away."
"I'm sure of it just as I'm sure that it's your first. Correct?" She replied while making the horse trot toward the hospital.
'It's my first make-believe child.' Lith thought.
"Correct." He actually said.
"Don't worry, it's a common mistake for newlyweds. The wife starts eating more, gains some weight, and the husband blames her for being a glutton just because he's too dumb to understand that she's eating for two.." The woman said with a snort while looking at Guyll.
