"As you should have probably noticed by now, we both descend from humans just like they descend from primates." Glemos showed his five-fingered hand before waving at Ekidna who kept eating in silence.
Now that her energy wings had disappeared, aside from her height and her six eyes, she was no different from a human woman.
"We are not Emperor Beasts but we like to keep it a secret. Aside from Domination, humans have yet to develop any bloodline ability and we have nothing to gain from siding with them.
"Beasts, instead, have plenty of useful things we can use, like Origin Flames."
Morok dropped his cutlery again but this time Glemos didn't intervene.
"Tyrants have spent millennia trying to develop our potential, but in the end, we hit a wall. Our eyes grant to every member of our species a few powers and Dominance over the seven elements without the need to rely on luck at birth, but that's it.
"That's not enough to overcome the huge gap in size with the Emperor Beasts or the lack of powerful bloodline abilities. Yet once we put our pride aside, we started working with our lost cousins and the Harmonizer was born.
"Before their Fall, Balors had a greater physical prowess than us, wings, and bloodline abilities that made up for their small size. After the Harmonizer restores them and grants them a core, they even develop power similar to those of Divine Beasts.
"My aim is to fuse our two species into one again. That's why I created you two and why I'm keeping your friends alive." Glemos pointed at the figures chained to the wall.
"Created?" Morok echoed.
"Tyrants are naturally stable, perfect Awakened that always develop six elemental eyes that can merge into one to control Spirit Magic." Glemos nodded. "The number of eyes of an unfallen Balor, instead, is fixed at birth and their cores are split between the wings.
"It makes them incredibly powerful since the wings give them access to a Domination-like ability that requires no concentration. At the same time, however, it prevents them from refining both their bodies and magical powers.
"Turning them into Fomors gave them a core and new powers, but no emerald eye."
"The purpose of my research is to create a new species that will get the best of both worlds. Imagine if you had Ekidna's six wings, her bloodline abilities, and even a seventh eye always open on your forehead. We would be invincible!
"I'm convinced that Dominance is but a symptom of a greater power that only the Guardians have partly discovered. Once we perfect it, each one of us will be able to fight on par with Divine Beasts, if not with the Guardians themselves!"
Glemos voice rose with excitement as he spoke, sending bits of food flying from his fork while he gestured franticly.
'Can you get me out of here?' Ekidna's voice resounded in Morok's head through a mind link she had established by touching his leg from under the table, to not let the frenzied Tyrant notice.
'Wait, what?'
'I'm not interested in spending my life trapped in a cave and giving birth to your children. I'm asking you if you have the means to get me out of here.' She replied while never raising her gaze from the food on her plate.
'You beat me to a pulp, captured my friends, and now dare to ask for my help? Besides, you are an Awakened and clearly, you can use Spirit Magic. Nothing stops you from escaping.' Morok drummed his fingers on the table.
Glemos thought that his son was pondering his words, but the younger Tyrant was actually trying to understand if he could trust the Fomor.
'Do you think I had a choice?' She replied with a fury that slightly flushed her cheeks even though her expression didn't change. 'I'm not like the others you faced in the cave. Without the Harmonizer they go back being monsters whereas I die!
'Glemos didn't Awaken me to make me a favor but to put a leash on my neck. The moment I remove the Harmonizer or get away from the geyser that powers it, my core will become unstable again and blow my body to bits.' Ekidna said.
'I've pandered Glemos' madness because I hoped that he would find a way to stabilize my body. I'm no Forgemaster. He taught me nothing but basic magic. Even if I rebelled and somehow killed him, I would have been doomed anyway.'
Morok felt sympathy for her, yet he didn't tell her that he was no Forgemaster either nor that it would probably take years for anyone but Glemos to find a solution to her problem.
"What's your answer?" The silence had lasted too long, making Glemos wonder if his son was actually mulling over his words or if he was just too stupid to understand them.
"First, you asked no question." Morok replied. "Second, there's something I still don't understand. Why do you work for the Undead Courts and the Mad Queen? What do we have to gain from associating with such dangerous organizations?"
Glemos smiled. The boy wasn't a lost cause after all.
"Even as a Regional Lord, I can't invest all of my resources in the Harmonizer. If I did, I would lack the equipment and the funds necessary to make the contributions that the Council requires me to keep my role.
"Every scientist requires a patron and the Undead Courts have been mine for centuries. Their Ghouls allow me to reach the mines and bypass the protective arrays, their thralls deliver me the monsters that I need for my experiments, and their criminal activities provide me with an endless flow of resources.
"In exchange, all I have to give them is part of what I mine from the other Regional Lords and a few defective versions of the Harmonizer to show them that I keep making progress.
"My partnership with the Mad Queen is recent, but she's going to be our best ally. Once she takes the throne, she'll make me the head of her scientific department and I'll give her all the information she needs to get rid of the Council.
"With the resources and the manpower of the entire Kingdom behind me, my research will proceed much faster." Glemos let the information sink in before delivering the final blow.
"My offer is simple. Join me at the winners' table or become my newest lab rat. I don't have the time to raise another son and if I mated with Ekidna, the resulting specimens would be of inferior quality." He pointed at Morok's seven-colored scales that he lacked.
"What about my friends?"
"From the Tiamat we can learn how to draw out the seventh eye without sacrificing the other six like Tyrants do. We can use the human female to alter Ekidna's physiology or at least her offspring's to free them from the need of wearing the Harmonizer.
"The Rezar is pointless for my research, but I can't pass on the opportunity to learn Light Mastery. As for the wolf-thingy, he's really similar to the Hati. The Mad Queen needs the Elder Beasts if she wants to defeat the Council.
"With an entire race at her service, the war will-" Glemos felt the ripple of a dimensional item opening through his yellow and orange eye, locating its source in Morok's hand.
