Chapter 3702: Sending a Message (Part 1) The Awakened saw two colored streaks bolting from the corpses of their companions toward Lith, too fast for any of them to try anything. "Faster, you bastards!" Jissha yelled. "Finish Vehen off before he can assimilate the Life Maelstrom!" ’Why did he also recall the natural lightning?’ There was no time to share her doubts with her allies, forcing the Roc to keep them to herself. ’That’s no spell. It will hurt him like it hurts us. He can’t have decided to kill himself. Not after killing so many of us.’ Of course, Jissha was right. The eight Awakened reached their target before the Life Maelstrom flooded the Tiamat again, but after the natural lightning engulfed his armor. The Titania was left behind, still healing the wounds Ragnarök had inflicted upon her. She was the only one who witnessed the result of the combined attack and gaped at it. Each Awakened struck Lith with either an Adamant weapon or a Spirit Spell. Each hit was masterful on its own, and if not for the lack of coordination, the scene would have been a masterpiece of warfare. Yet the Tiamat stood unmoved. His armor came out unscathed. The might of the blows crashed against the orange aura shrouding the Voidwalker armor like waves on a reef, dealing it no visible damage. "Mana Body! Retreat!" The light was orange instead of golden, but Cailm the Orthrus recognized the feeling on his blade. Everyone trusted his expertise since he held the same bloodline ability, and dashed back. ’How can a Tiamat have Mana Body, and why is its color wrong?’ Once again, the answer manifested itself a moment later, when Lith assimilated the Life Maelstrom and spread it evenly throughout his body. His yellow and orange eyes burned like twin suns, switching the earth element into the air element again. The Voidwalker armor now crackled with golden lightning identical to the one arching across Ragnarök’s blade. "Davross?" Zakra blurted out in surprise. "How did his armor suddenly turn into Davross?" It did not. Lith had combined the power of the Life Maelstrom with the massive amount of earth and air elements he had conjured to allow the Adamant-Davross alloy to manifest powers that usually only pure Davross possessed. It was but a temporary effect, but the Awakened didn’t know it. Also, they had no time to think. They were still darting back into a makeshift battle formation when Lith unfurled his feathered wings wide. One blast of Dread Flames erupted from each wing, moving as fast as a laser and hitting its marks just as hard. The silvery flames engulfed two of the Awakened on the frontline and burned them to a crisp before their allies’ feet touched the ground. "There’s no victory here! Only death!" Kidha opened the Spirit Steps she kept at the ready and crossed it while throwing an apologetic look at her comrades. Yet what she found beyond the emerald gate were seven eyes burning with hatred and the cold kiss of Ragnarök’s edge. The blade howled in fury as it pierced through the Manticore’s gut and used her life force to cast the tier four Chaos Magic spell, Howling Void. Ragnarök didn’t even try to suppress the Decay, letting it ravage Kidha. The Manticore withered and died in a heartbeat, blessing the angry blade with a Chaos aura. "Kidha, you fucker!" Cailm snarled. The Dread Flames had reduced the Awakened’s numbers to seven. There were still enough of them to attempt a Silverwing’s Annihilation. If Lith let them regroup and stood still until they were done, of course. It was an unlikely plan, but still a plan. More importantly, it was a hope of survival. With Kidha dead and only six Awakened left, there was none. "Since when is Verhen a dimensional mage?" Asked an Awakened. "It must be his eyes!" Yelled another at the same time, pointing at Lith’s forehead, which was still shining with power. "They can distort dimensional magic, but he can only use them on one target at a time. "If one of us sacrifices themselves, the others can escape!" "Good plan, Werik." Cailm sneered. "Any volunteer?" The Awakened bickered, but Lith didn’t stand there listening. He took one step forward as soon as Kidha was dead. One step to open a several-meter-deep crater below his right foot. One step to cross the distance with Werik and revert his right arm to its Tiamat size as he punched forward. Werik was among those Uryn had called "squishy ones" for a reason. The locomotive-sized first had the same effect as a speeding car’s windshield on a mosquito. At the same time, Ragnarök unleashed the Howling Void at Zakra. The Titania was putting back her pieces when the pillar of Chaos struck her, leaving behind nothing to heal. The last thing she saw was the advancing figure of the Tiamat while still holding the baby boy in his left arm. Zakra had finally found the strength she had chased her whole life, but it was too late, and from the wrong side of the battlefield. ’Master Ryleh was right. Humans...’ Void Howling devoured her Root before the Titania could finish her final thought. "Screw this! I’m out!" Jissha assumed her Living Thunder form and bolted away. A twin burst of Nether and Noxious Flames struck her in the back and turned the Living Thunder into charred flesh. Only three Awakened were left, and with the Golems joining their master in battle, the fight was over. Trouble and Raptor’s energy reserves ran low, but it didn’t affect their battle prowess. Golems didn’t tire, suffered no pain, and unless their limbs were crippled, they were unaffected by wounds. Lith weaved the Spirit Spell, Primordial Roar, killing the two Awakened locked in combat with the Golems. The constructs suffered no damage. The Spirit Crystal in their chests gave the Golems Lith’s energy signature and made them immune to his spells. Only Cailm the Orthrus was left. "How did you call my son?" Lith used Demon Grasp, his wounds and equipment healing at a speed visible to the naked eye. "Say it to my face now. I dare you." Cailm raised his hands in submission, swallowing hard yet inwardly sighing in relief. ’Verhen never talks during a fight.’ The Orthrus thought. ’If we are talking, it means the fight is over. He could have killed me already if he wanted. Verhen needs me for something. I can still get out of here alive.’ "I apologize for my words and actions." Cailm kneeled, his foreheads on the ground. "Valeron the Second is no bastard. He’s your son and deserves my respect." Against such an enemy, standing tall or offering his necks made no difference. Cailm betted everything on Lith’s warrior honor. "Easy to say when all your friends are dead." Lith was back to the peak of his strength, yet he made no move. "They were no friends of mine. We just shared... a foolish ambition." "Where are we, exactly?" Lith asked. "Still in the Distar region, but hundreds of kilometers west of Faluel’s lair. We’re near the borders with the Weghan region." Cailm conjured a map of the area from his communication amulet, allowing the Tiamat to orient himself. Lith didn’t comment. He kept staring at the Orthrus, making him feel like cattle under the gaze of an expert butcher who was assessing where to start cutting.