The hardwood door shook with a boom of thunder. Whatever had hit it from the other side carried enough strength to deform the enchanted wood and make the office’s walls tremble. "I guess we are out of time." Kugoh said as a second blow damaged the door beyond what its self-repair properties could handle and blew it off its hinges. A black-armored figure with seven glowing eyes walked through the cracked doorframe as he handed a finely decorated hammer to a petite feminine figure. "Supreme Magus Verhen and Great Mage Verhen, I presume." Kugoh stepped forward, pushing Shasa behind him. Lith ignored him, using the Eyes and Ears of Menadion to scan the office for traps and arrays. A snap of his fingers conjured hard-light constructs shaped like nails that jammed the mechanisms in the room and destroyed the focus points of the magical formations. "I must admit, you are nothing like the rumors describe you." Kugoh felt the control crystal in his pocket shatter as the last array faded into nothingness. "You are much, much worse." Lith kept ignoring the Behemoth, his seven eyes darting all over the room for anything that looked odd, out of place, or discordant with the rest of the office’s mana flow. "Is there any chance we can solve this without a fight?" The Behemoth endured the disrespect, knowing that until Lith didn’t move out the doorframe there was no way out of the room. "I’ve conducted a clean business that doesn’t violate the laws of the Awakened Council. "I’ve kept my operations out of your turf and refused to provide my services to those I knew were your enemies. There is no feud between us." "You can answer a question." Only after Lith made sure there were no more surprises waiting for him did he talk. "Why those people? What did they do to you?" "Why?" The Behemoth chuckled like it was a funny joke. "Because I needed test subjects. I’ve never met those people and they did nothing to me. They are just cattle. Do humans need a reason to kill a chicken or a calf? "No. They do it because they can and because the meat tastes good. Animals are below humans in the food chain just as humans are below Emperor Beasts. The strong live and the weak die. It’s as simple as that." "Remember those words when I kill you." Lith stepped forward, releasing the violet aura of the Full Guard enchantment of his Voidwalker armor. Elemental crystals appeared on his gauntlets and one blade for each knuckle extended from the Hands of Menadion. "You are indeed strong, but you have yet to live twenty-one full years." Kugoh tutted, his tone condescending as if he was talking to a naïve child. "I’m almost one hundred years old and had all the time to learn how to fight against beings much more powerful than you." Shasa grabbed the Behemoth’s shoulder on cue and infused him with two bolts of silver lightning. One for Kugoh’s body and the second for his equipment, increasing their powers tenfold. At the same time, the Behemoth activated his tattoo containing contaminated potions, bringing his body and fusion magic to the deep violet. Kugoh was a lesser Griffon and even though Behemoths had none of their foremother’s bloodline abilities, they had inherited Tyris’ full physical prowess. An adult Behemoth was as strong as an adult Griffon and thanks to the Hippogriff’s Life Maelstrom, Kugoh was ten times stronger than that. When he stepped forward, the mere pressure exerted by his clawed foot dug a crater into the solid, enchanted stone of the office. Kugoh’s speed took Lith by surprise as much as his real nature did. Behemoths were fierce and skilled fighters. With their wings and tail, they had as many limbs as a Tiamat and used them masterfully. Lith had trained several times against Feela and never won once against the beast representative. Lith raised his guard, ready to intercept a fist with his battle claws but blades emerged from Kugoh’s knuckles as well, metal clashing with metal. The Behemoth locked his weapons into the enemy’s and pulled them aside. Lith was exposed from head to waist, an opening that Kugoh exploited with a forward kick to the groin. Lith blocked it by raising his right knee just for the Behemoth to pivot on it in a spin. Kugoh’s left feathered wing unfurled like a giant hand, slapping Lith’s upper body and pushing him off balance. The Behemoth’s whipping tail hit a split second later and slammed into Lith’s side, sending him to crash against the side wall. Lith’s vision was still blurred from the wing-slap and his body bent from the lashing when the right wing hit him, followed by a spinning kick. By itself, the kick would have been too slow and predictable, but by chaining it with three other attacks Kugoh had made it impossible to avoid. The Behemoth dug his taloned heel deep into Lith’s armor, twisting it until all the momentum of his attack was delivered into the enemy’s body. ’By my Mom!’ Solus stood by the side, keeping an eye on Shasa and keeping him from interfering further in the fight. ’Not even Feela has ever used her wings like that. Who is that guy?’ "Impressive." Even through his Adamant armor, Kugoh could tell something was off with his blows. Lith had used his horns to ram into the wings and disperse their blows, his own wings to soften the tail’s lash, and both his hands to block the Behemoth’s heel away from his body. Lith grunted in acknowledgment, using the wall for leverage and pushing Kugoh away. He had tried many times to twist Feela’s ankle or force her to grapple and it never ended well. While most Griffons were brawlers, preferring to rely on their raw physical prowess and boost it with Life Maelstrom, most Behemoths were accomplished martial artists. With no bloodline ability, they could compete with other Lesser Divine Beasts solely by honing their skills and learning to use their peerless strength effectively. Every part of their bodies was trained into a weapon that Behemoths employed to destroy their enemies in close-quarter combat before spells or bloodline abilities could become relevant. Lith had learned the hard way that it was better to keep Feela at a distance, where the longer reach of his blade gave him an advantage. "What’s wrong, mighty Tiamat?" Kugoh flipped in mid-air with a somersault and flapped his wings to charge back at Lith like a small missile. "Where are your fancy spells? Don’t tell me you never trained to fight in cramped spaces." Find adventures on freewebnovel Lith raised his combat claws to deflect the charge and use the momentum to roll away while the Behemoth crashed into the wall. ’I actually did, but never against an opponent stronger than me who also had the home advantage.’ Lith thought. He wasn’t familiar with the room and didn’t dare unfold his bladed wings. The furniture was heavy and enchanted enough to slow his wings down if they got stuck into the wood and he couldn’t afford to give Kugoh one more edge over him. "What about you, pretty lady?" Shasa said as silver lightning arched across his body.