"I agree. Solus deserves a good life and even though I did everything I could for her, it didn't amount to much." Lith said, leaving everyone flabbergasted, especially Silverwing.
"Yet I'm not going to die just to let you have your way. I have still many things to do and I don't even know how much time I have left."
Lith had never forgotten about his cracked life force nor about his resurrection problem because every time that he allowed himself to relax, Death Vision reminded him of his condition.
Even now he could see Silverwing's body turning into ashes in a blaze of flames, being shattered to bits after being frozen, and disappearing after being hit by a Chaos spell.
The only thing that those visions had in common was that they all required three-quarters of her body to be destroyed at the same time.
"Last, but not least, I want it to be clear that I have never ever abused Solus as you keep implying. From time to time, I have been a rude jerk to her, just like I have been to anyone else, but that's it."
"Lucky you, I brought something that will tear apart all the convenient excuses you just used to cover your ass." Silverwing put on the table the smaller of the two items she had brought, taking away the wrap that blocked even the tower's mystical senses.
It turned out to be a wooden box engraved with silver runes of power. A blue mana crystal the size of a tennis ball was embedded on its lid, fueling a complex series of humming arrays carved on the surface of the box.
Lith and Solus had seen something similar once in the past. Solus when Nalear had used an almost identical artifact to sever their bond while Lith had seen it through her memories. They both became pale, jumping back to safety while conjuring Tower Spirit spells so powerful that the Trawn woods quaked.
"How can you be familiar with a Removal unit?" Silverwing didn't move nor flinch in front of their display of strength, yet she was impressed.
The combination of two mana cores instead of one with the tower's power core had brought the tower to new heights. On top of that, War, Reaver, and the Sage Staff stored in the Armory further boosted the spells.
The Sage Staff channeled the power of the mana geyser that exceeded the tower's capacity, Reaver allowed the tower to hold countless spells without burdening its masters while War increased their mastery over elemental energies and pure mana alike.
'The tower is far from completion yet it's already this strong.' Silverwing thought. 'I wonder what it would do in the hands of a bright violet core or maybe even a white core. Maybe Baba Yaga is right. I should make a tower for myself.'
"What's a Removal unit?" Phloria asked to break the standstill since none of the two sides had moved a muscle for several seconds now.
"Child, ever since cursed objects were invented, mages searched for a way to separate the host from the parasite. A Removal unit is the answer to that problem." Silverwing replied.
"If such a thing exists, then why do Lost Cities still exist and why didn't the Kingdom use them against the Horsemen?" Phloria asked and the other two just nodded.
"Isn't it obvious?" Once it was evident that none of the three youths seemed to agree, the First Magus sighed at their ignorance. "As I said, it can remove the cursed object from its host, not destroy it.
"Most of them are plenty capable of defending themselves even without a physical body, just like the Black Star. Despite the best efforts of people like me, there is no way to cut off a cursed object from its energy source.
"The Black Star fed off the mana geyser and the people of Kaduria, Dawn feeds on the light element, and so on. Epphy is a unique case since away from a mana geyser, her host and her power source are one and the same.
"As for your second question, the Removal unit uses most of its power to sever the bond. It requires either the host's compliance or for them to be incapacitated. That's why you don't see them often.
"Most hosts become so deranged after years of abuse that they refuse to be helped and once you kill them, the Removal unit is pointless." Silverwing said while never averting her gaze from Solus who she considered the victim.
"If the Kingdom tried to use them on a Horseman, it would have taken them a single spell to destroy the Removal unit."
"She's saying the truth." Solus took several deep breaths to calm down. "Nalear couldn't kill you, so she had to beat you into submission before taking me away. I managed to escape from it even though I had barely a yellow core.
"That thing isn't a threat for any powerful relic."
"I believe you, Solus." Lith said. "Yet I don't understand what we are supposed to do with it, Silverwing."
"You are supposed to let me sever your bond. To prove to me that Solus isn't buried under a thick web of orders that you imparted her over the years to suppress her free will.
"You are supposed to let her go with me if that's her choice." The First Magus said with a smug grin.
"I think that Silverwing is right. You should let her do it." Phloria said, clenching her fist below the table. "Think about how you can't stop saying "we" instead of "I". Think about how her presence poisoned your relationship with me, with Kamila, and with any woman that you'll meet.
"Even your own family has a hard time defining your relationship. This is your first opportunity to take a step back and think about your life as a single individual. Sure, the tower gives you plenty of power, but the moment it gets exposed it will put you and whoever you love in trouble.
"Think about how easily Silverwing found you and about what would have happened if she was one of your enemies. Think about how Scarlett tried to kill you because of Solus and so will everyone who thinks she's a cursed object or knows she's Menadion's tower."
Phloria's speaking of Lith as the victim and of Elphyn as a cursed object that was ruining his life annoyed Silverwing greatly, but since they both wanted the same thing, she said nothing.
"You are right, Phloria, but this isn't just my choice. It's our choice. Solus?" Lith asked.
"Do you really still believe that I'm some kind of slave? That I've stayed by Lith's side for so long because he forced me to?" Solus pinched her nose while taking deep breaths to calm down, but to no avail.
"I don't believe it. I know it." Silverwing replied. "The Elphyn I knew-"
"Died a first time seven hundred years ago and then died again of hunger, madness, and loneliness!" Solus cut her short. "Do you have any idea how many times I could have let Lith die simply by not warning him about a hidden enemy?
"How many times the only thing that kept me from becoming a monster like Night was sharing his mind?"
