2673 Phoenix's Forge (Part 1) Lith was now much stronger than the Phoenixes, but every member of the Nest had to achieve the bright violet core on their own and acquire at least one millennium of battle experience to earn a spot in the Overlord's elite forces. Also, every piece of their equipment was crafted by Salaark, boosting the guards' physical and magical prowess by several folds. The effect of surprise from the hybrid's might lasted only for a split second after which the Phoenixes used teamwork to make up for the gap in raw power. "We come in peace!" The creature's roar shook the palace's tent, making their claim sound insincere. "We are Lith/Solus!" The guards bolted forward with perfect coordination, forcing the intruder to decide what to block and what to endure, but no matter the choicethey made, they would take a lot of damage. The Hybrid roared again, using War to deflect a spear, three hands to block as many incoming weapons, and their wings to swat the Phoenixes coming from behind like flies. The Guards reacted by turning their bodies and weapons into living Origin Flames to escape the enemy's grasp and continue their onslaught. The Hybrid took a deep breath, charging his mouths and eight wings with different kinds of Flames that they unleashed against the incoming Phoenixes. "Enough!" A burst of white aura followed by the blackest darkness since the Void stopped all the mystical flames. For a moment, Lith and Solus thought that Dawn had somehow followed them with her steed, but their mystical senses corrected them. Sinmara, the white-cored Phoenix of Darkness and Salaark's right-hand man, had appeared in the middle of the conflict, putting an end to it. "Little brother? Is that really you?" It took her a while to decipher the energy signature resulting from the fusion. "Yes, dammit!" They had never been so happy to see her since the day Sinmara had refused to help them save Phloria. "Please, call Grandma. We need her help." They showed Sinmara War, taking care of not exposing her to either the deadly blade or hilt. She looked at the shattered blade and dozens of questions popped up in her mind but she voiced none. 'It can wait.' She thought while alerting the Overlord of a code blood emergency. It was both the highest state of alert of the palace and something that only a member of the family in distress could trigger. It bypassed the Hushing and dimensional boundary arrays that the Overlord used for her most important business. Like those with which she was dealing right now. Jiera's colonization was a big deal and so were the blueprints of the trains that she was plotting to seize. Salaark was above stealing from one of her Featherlings but the Royals were another story. Economic espionage was part of the political game, something that the Empire and the Kingdom attempted on the Blood Desert every day so the Overlord had no qualms about returning the favor. 'If Lith is so na?ˉve that he entrusted those idiots with such a masterpiece he can't blame me for-'The code blood interrupted the meeting with her high command and provided Salaark with the dimensional coordinates of the emergency. She Warped away without a word, no explanation asked nor given. All those who took part in the clandestine summits located in one of Salaark's pockets of space were Phoenixes as well. They had been born, bred, and trained to the belief that the well-being of the Nest was above any amount of money and influence. "What in the Great Mother's name is happening?" Salaark would have feared that someone was attempting on Elisya's life, if not for Leegaain giving her updates on the baby's development every five minutes. "Oh my myself, what have you guys done?" She wasn't talking just about War but also their pitiful mental state. "We-" "Too slow. No time." Salaark put the index and middle fingers of both hands on the Hybrid's forehead. She activated the Blood Imprint to learn everything that she had missed while in her isolation and pulled her hands away, unraveling the fusion. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖 Lith's body appeared in front of her right hand and Solus in front of the left, both with their eyes wide in surprise. "I'm sorry, but I had to do it." Salaark wiped two silent tears from her own cheeks. "I would have loved for the tower to heal both of your life forces a bit more, but if I allowed that, your minds would have been destroyed. "Solus, you are not the kind of person who hurts others in order to express your anger. You are not revenge-driven. That's Lith's thing." She cupped Solus' face, kissing her forehead. "Lith, I understand your fury, but you should have done what Solus has always done for you and tempered her pain, not fuel it. Sure, violence would have given her relief for a while, but following your methods would have left even deeper scars as soon as she came to realize what she had done." Salaark moved in front of Lith, repeating the gestures of affection. "I'm sorry, Grandma, we-" They said in unison but she shut them up by placing her hands on their mouths. "As I said, we don't have time. Not if we want to save War." The Overlord pointed at the shattered blade that was losing power by the second now that the fusion was undone, "Sinmara, make sure no one disturbs us." She said while turning to her second in command. "Yes, my liege. Unless there's another code blood, I'll deal with the Blood Desert in your absence." I could say: "What are the odds?" But that would jinx this big time.' Salaark nodded and Warped the three of them in her Forgemastering lab. The place wasn't much different from the Forge in the tower, except it was much bigger, it had direct access to a bubbling stream of magma that she used as a source of heating for the smelting process of metals, and every single tool in the room was made of Davross. Lith could have spent hours just tinkering with the various pieces of equipment he had never seen before but, as Salaark had said, he had no time. "What do you mean, we?" He asked. "We came here because we've already tried and failed everything we could. Our only hope is your Creation Magic." "I'm sorry, but what am I supposed to do?" Salaark replied. "I can't touch either the blade or the hilt and if I break your imprint right now, War will collapse. The blood and the mana you have infused it with are the only things keeping the blade together. "If I snuff out the flames, the pseudo cores will fade. If I remove the imprint, they'll fade. If 1 apply any spell which bears a foreign energy signature, the blade's pseudo cores will consume the energy they have left to counter them..." "And War's consciousness will fade." Solus nodded. She was still angry and hurt, but now that she had her body again, she managed to regain her cool for War's sake. "If the situation is beyond even you, then what do you need us for?" Lith asked.