‘Damn. Is there really so much difference between the violet and the bright violet core?’ Lith wondered as he used Life Vision, Death Vision, and shared Solus’ mana vision.
The Firbolg’s physical prowess was inferior to a Divine Beast’s but it was nothing to scoff at. He witnessed her die in several different ways, but every one of them required her body to be reduced to shreds.
Even from that distance, Lith could see with the mana sense the Fae’s body crackling with the hidden energy of the spells that she kept at the ready.
Also, judging from the full set of equipment she wore, Senara had come ready to battle in the case the negotiations failed.
The Firbolg didn’t show any sign of hostility and released two seemingly harmless spells.
The first was an array detection spell while the other was a life detecting array. There was nothing odd in her actions, Senara might just be checking that her guests hadn’t set up an ambush or a trap.
‘In her shoes, I’d do the same. Life Vision has a limited range whereas a life sensing array can cover up to a kilometer. The question is if she used it to check for hidden reinforcements on our side or to make sure that there are no witnesses.
‘As for the array detecting spell, I bet that if she found any, a well-placed Disarray spell would have turned our protections into the opening salvo of the conflict.’ Lith thought and he was right.
Senara was truly disappointed to miss the opportunity to blow them up with minimal effort. She had conjured opened the Warp Steps away from the hill exactly to avoid being caught in the conflagration.
“Welcome to Verendi. I’m Senara the Firbolg, plant representative of the Council. My disciple, Tryssa, should have told you about me.” She gave them a small but polite and graceful bow that they returned.
“Have you brought the Mouth of Menadion?” Solus asked.
“No, I came here to find a peaceful solution.” She shook her head.
“There’s nothing to talk about. Give me my mother’s legacy back or we’ll leave.”
“Lady Menadion, I think you are rushing things a bit.” Senara raised her hands in a peace gesture. “There’s no reason to be enemies. You could just come to live here among us.
“We would gladly return the Mouth to you and you would not be involved in the pointless war that’s ravaging Garlen. All of you are welcome to stay.” She then turned toward the rest of the group.
“We heard a lot about Garlen’s Tiamat and we are willing to offer you a seat in the Council. As for your Eldritches, your past crimes can be forgiven if you help us develop our continent and let us study your unique condition.
“You have already joined Garlen’s Council and I can promise you that Verendi’s will not treat you any worse.”
“I’ll tell you what I said Raagu when she made me the same offer. I’m not interested.” Lith replied.
“I don’t want to be part of your Council and I don’t trust a bunch of thieves to keep their word. I bet that the moment I follow you, you would extort me of my mother’s secrets and add the Fury to your collection.” Solus showed Senara the reborn hammer and the Firbolg’s eyes shone with unbridled greed.
“Even if we were seeking our redemption, the likes of you can’t help us.” Theseus knew that his destiny wouldn’t be much different from Elphyn’s.
The Council wanted to befriend him solely to discover the secret of his power that went beyond the limits of the bright violet core. They would turn him into a test subject and discard his remains once they were done with him.
“I’m truly sad.” Senara sighed. “We could have achieved great things together, but you refused to take the hand that was offered to you even though it was the only thing that kept you alive.”
A snap of her fingers caused dozens of Warping Arrays to appear. The magical circles were so close to each other that their borders almost touched and there were so many of them that the hill was completely surrounded from every side.
As the Council’s elite corps of Awakened stepped out of the Warping arrays, Lith was amazed by their numbers. He had expected a small army, but it was barely a big platoon.
‘What the fuck? Why so few of them and why are they arranged into teams of seven? It’s a waste of manpower. Five is the best number per unit, like we did with the Hand of Fate to fight Orpal.’ Lith had no idea of what was happening.
The reason there were so few people was simply that the Council couldn’t afford to reveal the existence of the Mouth to other people. Only those who were already aware of the fact that the Council owned it and had benefitted from the artifacts it created had been summoned.
The more Awakened elders they involved, the more things they would have to explain and the less time their respective turn using the Mouth would last. Like Faluel always said, only an idiot never shared.
The Verendi Council had avoided infighting for the artifact by exploiting its nature as a teaching tool that allowed the Mouth to be used by multiple people.
Yet if too many mages were involved, there wouldn’t be enough time for everyone.
“Now.” Zoreth gave Lith the signal and he called upon the Void.
A dome of blackness erupted from his body, covering the entire Penaka hill and reaching the Awakened units.
“What the fuck?” Senara suddenly couldn’t even see the hand in front of her nose.
No matter what kind of mystical sense she employed. Life Vision and Fire Vision were blocked while her enemies were too far away for Earth Vision to be effective. The elite units kept their cool, but when their own comrades touched them, several fights broke out.
They mistook the hands groping in the darkness for their enemy having exploited the situation to Blink behind them. The worst part about it was that they were right.
Lith was the only one still on the hill because the Call of the Void would always be centered around him. The others instead had Warped to the back of the enemy formation and escaped the encirclement.
Yet they had no intention to run away. All ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ full.com
The blackness of the Void lit up with countless white eyes and maws that assaulted the Awakened from every side, throwing their formations into disarray. Each Demon was nothing compared to an Awakened, but there were hundreds of them.
Hundreds of black hands invisible in the darkness whose touch robbed their victims of their vigor and mana.
‘This is the part that I like the less about the plan, but I must deal as much damage as I can before these old monsters find a counter to my Void.’ Lith thought as he shapeshifted into his full size, standing 25 meters (82′) tall and becoming visible above the black dome.
Exposing his position was very dangerous and painted a target on his chest, but it was a risk he had to take. He was the only one beside Solus who could see through the Call of the Void and the only one who could exploit the situation to its fullest.
