Chapter 3666 Easy Marks (Part 1) "This is awesome!" Phillard studied his new and improved axes under the sunlight. "Or rather, these babies are awesome! How do you upgrade them so easily every time, Ruler Menadion?" "That's simple." She said with false modesty. "I had you tell me in advance all the enchantments you wanted on the final product. I planned the best version possible of your weapons and then downgraded them to the currently available materials. "All I have to do when you bring a new bounty is to fill the spaces I left blank in the power core on purpose or replace its useless but stable runes with working ones." "You could at least tell me the proper upgrade order, though." The Lindwurm grunted. "My axes shattered in the middle of the fight more than once because they were unable to withstand the strength of their own enchantments!" "The deal is one upgrade per bounty." Menadion tutted. "You pick the upgrade, I do the job. The consequences are on you." "Well said!" Phillard laughed, surprising everyone. "Gambling a bit makes things more interesting. Having to pay a bounty just to reforge my axes, not so much." "Again, your choice." Lith replied. "Just upgrade the metal and the crystals first." "Yeah, right." The Lindwurm snorted. "One crystal at a time would take too long, and I need the power to defend my axes. Upgrading the materials and adding no new enchantments would make them a pretty gift for whoever kills me." A deal was a deal, but giving no warning saved Lith's wallet many hits. *** It was a morning after one of Phillard's visits that Kamila found an interesting article on the Web. "Have you read this already?" She enlarged the hologram for everyone to see. "Crime rates in the Kingdom have dropped, and all thanks to Lith?" "Me?" Lith was the most surprised at the table. "I haven't gone on a mission for a while now. What did I do to be credited for that?" "You've destroyed three criminal organizations, silly." Kamila replied. "And all three disappeared overnight. The first was the one who went after Elina. Then the Emperor Beasts recreating Hatorne's work, and recently the Mazark Cartel. "And don't forget how many people 'go on vacation' every time Phillard brings you new intel." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎 "Oh, right." Lith nodded. The criminal underworld had no details of those events. The official version was that Lith had intervened on the scenes of two crimes and also dealt with people threatening his family. On top of that, Lith had used his connection with the Royals to cover up the execution of those who tried to hire Phillard. The various gangs only knew that whenever someone was dumb enough to act under the Supreme Magus' nose, many heads would roll. Fear made both hitmen and thugs cancel their plans the moment they spotted a tall, black-haired man in the crowd, especially if he had a mean look on his face. Being tall was just uncommon, and to make matters worse, black was the most common hair color in the Kingdom. Career criminals started to bring a picture of Lith with them not to forget his features, and whenever they lost it or forgot it at home, entire operations would be cancelled. Once the Royals caught on to what was happening, they had the tallest officers of every precinct dye their hair black and wear a scowl during service hours. The results were so stunning and cheap that they earned Lith several commendations. He also received full credit for all busts, fueling the myth that he was everywhere at the same time. The criminals were too terrified to move a finger, the citizens of the Kingdom felt safer, and Lith's enemies had no way to track his movements since, according to the official paperwork, he happened to be in every city where a major raid took place. In two words, everybody won. "I would be angry with the Royals for using my name like that if they didn't give me the merits that come with my 'successes'." Lith said. "On top of that, now Meln will have a hard time staging an amb-" His communication amulet drew his attention. Lith rarely received calls this early in the morning and never from Erslan Bhaz. He hadn't heard from the King of the Dawn Court since forming their alliance. "I'm sorry. I have to take this alone." He pressed the Blood Warlock's rune while Warping away from the dinner table. "Status report." "Nothing good." Frustration and helpless rage marred the red light of undeath in Erslan's eyes. "The Stonewall Fortress is under attack, and things are going nothing like we had predicted. And with we, I mean you and I, Magus Verhen." "There's no time for formalities, Erslan." Lith replied. "Agreed, Lith." The Blood Warlock nodded. "Come here to see the situation for yourself. There's much to learn even in defeat." "We'll see about that." Lith didn't bother hiding his surprise at the Dawn King talking about defeat like that, but he held his questions in. "I'll call you again when I'm ready and I need you to deactivate the space-compressing array." "Make it quick and swift." Erslan replied. "Quick because we are already evacuating the Fortress. Swift because we can't lower the array for long without the risk of a strike team Warping inside. Bhaz out." "Don't worry, I'll come up with an explanation for the others." Kamila was with him, and so was Solus. "Thank the gods since Jirni needed our help, we're always above a mana geyser." Solus said. "The tower and I are in our top fighting condition." "Meln Protocols?" Lith asked. "Already engaged." "Let's go, then." "Kiss the babies for me, Kami." Solus left her there and moved herself and Lith to the tower. From there, they activated a Warping Array with a precise mana wavelength that the Stonewall Fortress' magical formations recognized. "Ready when you are." The dimensional corridor opened for a brief instant, transporting only those who had stepped inside the Warping Array. Lith and Solus found themselves surrounded by undead armed to the teeth, dozens of weapons pointed at their throats, and even more spells trained at their vitals. His hosts had no Live Vision, so Lith demonstrated his identity by making the defensive arrays in the room flicker. "Sorry for the strict security measures, Lith." Erslan Bhaz was among the welcome committee. "But we non-Awakened can't take risks with shapeshifters." During his previous visit, Menadion had rewritten the arrays of the Fortress with Creation Magic, giving her, Solus, and Lith full authority over the Undead Court's base. It gave Lith the confidence to trust his unlikely allies and the undead a way to identify him beyond doubt. "Just tell me what's happening." Lith pushed the weapons away and moved forward. "Long story short, your br- Meln went after the Undead Courts as we expected. The problem is that he staged his attack in a way that rendered about half of our countermeasures useless." "Half?" Lith echoed as they moved toward the control room with long strides. "What about the changes Ripha made to the Fortress?" "That's the working half and the reason I had the time to call you instead of running away in a rush." Erslan replied. "Here. Look and tell me if I'm wrong."