Chapter 3777: A Secret Well Kept (Part 2) "By your command." Ainz had already recovered Milla. He put the baby girl in Brinja’s arms and lifted his wife in his own. "You’re not going anywhere unless I say so!" Orpal jumped out of the wall and lunged at Milla, knowing the baby girl was the weakest link of the chain. Sylpha put herself in the way, just as he expected. The clone put all of his weight in the blow, charging his body with another bolt of Life Maelstrom and flapping his wings to kick things up another notch. What he didn’t expect was the Queen deflecting Thorn and dispelling the strength of his charge with an unsettling ease. "Motion denied!" Sylpha kicked Orpal in the solar plexus, breaking his breathing again and sending him to crash in the same spot as before. "Damn, if I’m getting cocky with age. I said get out, Marquis!" Her arms and blade trembled from the aftershock, and she needed to flex her fingers to shrug off the numbness. "And I said, stay!" Orpal didn’t bother getting up and lunged multiple times with his spear, unleashing a barrage of Wailing Winds. Sylpha produced a single vertical slash that dealt with the Wailing Wind aimed at the family behind her while the Black Griffons did the rest. The black elemental crystal and her eyes flared in unison, conjuring several griffons comprised of pure darkness element and each as big as a horse. They made short work of the Wailing Winds and galloped towards Orpal to finish the job. He drew power from Night’s prism and swatted them all down with a single sweep of Thorn. "That’s all the Saefel Set can do? I’m disappointed." Sylpha’s eyes flared with violet light, and so did the gemstones on the Saefel Set. She shook her head briefly and opened a Spirit Steps that brought the Distars to safety. ’Are you insane?’ Jorl had been watching the fight through a mind link with Orpal, who in turn was connected through the clone via the prism. The Storm Griffon had remained silent until that moment not because he wasn’t worried about the outcome of the fight, but because his trauma paralyzed him. ’Run! For whatever pride you have left and everything you love, do what you do best and run like the wind!’ Jorl screamed. ’Why should we?’ Orpal and Night cocked their head to the side. ’We lost badly to Thrud, but back then we barely had the blue core, and she was a white cored Divine Beast. Sylpha is nothing compared to her. ’This is the perfect opportunity to test as far as we can go against a decent opponent.’ 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢 ’Nothing compared to Thrud? A decent opponent?’ Jorl echoed in disbelief. ’Did you forget who defeated Thrud? Who defeated me?’ ’Of course we remember. It’s just that we-’ ’It’s just that you don’t understand!’ Jorl cut them short. ’Back when I fought Sylpha, she was tired from a long, grueling training session with my mother. I was a bright blue-cored Awakened Griffon, and she was a fake Awakened. ’She wore mere combat fatigues, and I my equipment. Do you remember how our fight ended?’ ’Yes.’ Orpal and Night replied, still confused. ’Great. Now, consider this. The Sylpha in front of you is fully rested and wears the most powerful equipment you can possibly imagine. An equipment Forgemastered by a Guardian and constantly improved upon by a Guardian for her beloved. ’That’s what you’re up against!’ Jorl pointed at the feathery energy wings coming out of the Saefel Armor, the sign that Meron had already unlocked the Set’s true power by spilling his blood. The King would have gladly dealt with Orpal himself, but he couldn’t take that away from his wife. Mirim had been his good friend and a loyal vassal, but she had also been Sylpha’s best friend and confidant. Brinja was Sylpha’s goddaughter, and the Queen hated it when someone else settled her scores. ’Oh.’ Orpal and Night said as the Spirit Steps disappeared and the Queen of the Griffon Kingdom roared her challenge. Bright violet aura erupted from her body with such violence that the biggest pieces of debris trembled like during an earthquake while the smaller ones floated in the air, defying gravity. A wave of killing intent washed over the room first, raising a dust cloud, and then over the Dead King, sending a cold shiver down his spine. ’On top of that, of course, the Saefel Sword’s enchantment was weak. You just used Doom Tide. The blade could only conjure the scraps of world energy that have already returned, yet it stopped your attacks.’ Jorl said. ’That’s great!’ Orpal’s clone came out of the wall, releasing his deep violet aura to counter Sylpha’s killing intent with his own. ’Exactly. Now run for the hil- Did you just say great? Are you insane? And by that I mean more than usual?’ ’I’m not insane!’ Orpal’s voice became dominant. ’If Sylpha is half as good as you think, this is a blessing in disguise. You said it yourself, Jorl. If we want to defeat Leech, we must become ten times stronger than him. ’Fighting Sylpha means having a real fight to the death with one of the best fighters in the Kingdom. There is no telling how much I can learn or how far I can push my limits. This fight will reveal everything I need to know about myself. ’It will put everything I’ve achieved to the test and show me how much I have improved since I fought Thrud!’ Night would have liked to point out that they had never fought Thrud. It had been a unilateral massacre, but she was experiencing one of those rare moments when she was proud of her host, so she kept her objections to herself. ’Besides, this is just a clone.’ Night thought. ’It’s not like I’m really putting my safety in Orpal’s hands. That would be real madness.’ "Face me, coward." Sylpha said, snapping everyone out of their daze. "Pick an opponent of your size. Someone who isn’t tired and wounded like Mirim was. She didn’t die because of you. You are nothing but a little, pathetic man! "Mirim died because she had already given her all to protect her people. To serve her country. To serve me! If she were at her full strength, today Mirim and I would be dancing on your grave to celebrate the anniversary of your death!" "I accept your challenge, woman." Orpal brought Thorn to his forehead in a salute. "Let’s see what-" Instead of returning the gesture, the Queen kicked the ground and cannoned Orpal. He quickly switched his grip from vertical to horizontal to block the edge of the Saefel Blade. ’She’s ruthless! I like that in a woman.’ He thought. ’Too bad she’s an old hag and ugly at that. Otherwise, I’d-’ Thorn bent sharply on impact, and even after Orpal pushed Sylpha back by adjusting his footing, the Davross of the haft remained nicked. ’Don’t get distracted, you fool.’ Night warned him. ’You have the mass advantage, but your equipment is human-sized. Sylpha’s equipment, instead, is Divine Beast-sized! ’Even though the Saefel Set is lighter than a Divine Beast, it’s still made of pure and purified Davross.’