Chapter 3691: Redeeming Quality (Part 2) Blinks could have failed, Warp Steps could have been turned against him with Collapse Space, while there was no counter to Dragonspeed aside from a greater speed. At the same time, Lith pushed a scroll out of Soluspedia that appeared right beside Solus, alerting her. With Orpal still on the loose, they kept a strict protocol to call the other for help. A protocol that couldn’t be stopped by dimensional-sealing arrays and that was supposed to ensure their safety. *** “Farm me sideways!” At the Mansion, Solus tried to check on Lith with the mind link, but they were too far away. “Elina, take care of Elysia. Lith needs my help.” Even though she didn’t know his exact position, he was supposed to be in the Trawn Woods. She Blinked to the tower and then Warped the structure to the Woods, releasing a full scan of the Watchtower floor. *** ‘Shit! He noticed us!’ An Awakened part of a seven-man unit alerted the rest of his comrades as those conjuring Silverwing’s Annihilation broke formation and gave chase to the Tiamat. Weaving one of Silverwing’s spells required perfect coordination between seven bright violet-cored Awakened. Something complex while the seven Awakened were close to each other, and impossible while flying at high speed and spread out not to offer a big, clumsy target. ‘Copy that!’ Five more bright violet cores came out of their hiding spots and fanned out in front of Lith to cut off his escape routes. ‘Twelve people?’ Lith used air and fire fusion to perform a sharp curve in mid-air and released a tier three Light Mastery heat ray from his feet to propel himself forward like a rocket. ‘Two more and they could use two anti-Guardian spells at the same time. ‘Who are these people and how did I piss them off without even knowing about it?’ Lith was faster, but his opponents were many and well-prepared. The one closest to him Blinked forward, and Lith lunged with Ragnarök right into the exit point. “You always go for the heart or the neck, Verhen. You’re deadly yet so predictable.” What looked like a big wreath of flowers said. A big wreath covered in Adamant and wielding a different enchanted weapon in each of her whip-like vines. Ragnarök met only empty air while the ten blades came crashing down on Lith from every direction. He blocked one with the angry blade, two more with his membranous wings, and another with his tail. The other six he had to block with a Spirit Barrier while wrapping Valeron with his feathered wings to keep him from harm’s way. Just like his enemies wanted. Each of the six blows carried the strength of a Griffon and slammed at the barrier with a boom of thunder. Lith was sent hurtling back and into a long-distance Warp Steps that the other four Awakened had kept at the ready. ‘Phase one is completed.’ The Titania said. ‘Verhen is stranded and alone. Commencing phase two.’ *** There was no trace of Lith and Valeron when Solus reached the Trawn Woods. The fourteen Awakened had already Warped after their quarry, taking care to relax the space and keep Faluel from finding them. The Hydra was no dimensional mage, but her future Harbinger was. There was no point in taking unnecessary risks and getting in trouble with the Council. “Where is he? Where is Valeron?” The Watchtower and the Eyes of Menadion tracked Lith’s energy signature until it disappeared abruptly. “Faluel, get your scaly ass- Fuck!” Like most mages in the crucial steps of an experiment, the Hydra had stored her communication amulet away, making herself unreachable. “Friya! I need Friya.” At least Friya’s communication amulet was on, and she was at the Verhen Mansion. While the tower powered up for another Warp, Solus alerted her friend to be ready for the pickup. *** Lith crash-landed in the middle of nowhere, making the Warp Steps he had just finished preparing useless. He needed to know both the arrival and destination dimensional coordinates to connect them, and he didn’t even know how far he was from the Trawn Woods. ‘The good thing is that I’m alone. No point in overthinking. I need to move fast!’ He Blinked up in the sky and then exploited the momentum from the blows to resume his flight without losing his initial speed. Follow new episodes on the "N0vel1st.c0m". Alas, his pursuers knew exactly where he was and needed but a glance at the direction he had taken to know where Lith would be. Twelve Awakened Warped to surround him. Meanwhile, the two Awakened who had remained hidden in ambush in the woods in case Lith charged at the seven-man unit, stayed behind to seal the dimensional passages leading to the Trawn Woods. “Stop running away! It’s not you we are after, Verhen.” A deep, baritone voice said as the twelve Awakened orbited around Lith to keep him from focusing on one of them. “Hard to believe when you ambush me in numbers and prepare an Annihilation.” Lith had brought with him the Ears and the Mouth, but activated only the latter. Without a geyser, the Ears of Menadion were too dangerous. He could have used it against one powerful enemy, but twelve of them would blind him with pain. “We knew you wouldn’t cooperate and couldn’t risk you killing one of us. We needed to give you an incentive to negotiate with us. You give us what we want, and you get to leave with your life and equipment. A fair deal.” The man said. Lith scanned him with Life Vision and discovered he was some kind of Emperor Beast in human form. A big one at that. “If you don’t want me or my equipment, how do you expect Menadion to craft something for you in the middle of nowhere?” Lith bought more time, bolting left and right to test the encirclement for weak spots and waiting for the Mouth to charge. “We don’t want Menadion. We know she’s bound to you.” The male Emperor Beast replied. “Give us the boy and we’ll leave you alone.” *** Jiera continent, ruined city of Hervor, at the same time. Orpal accepted recruits from all continents, but he had chosen Jiera as his base of operation. The plague that had decimated human life had also emptied entire cities without damaging their facilities. Thrud’s former palace was luxurious, fully equipped with powerful arrays, and with everything one might need to train an army of powerful creatures. The opportunity to spit on the Mad Queen’s portraits while causing the death of her beloved son was just the icing on the cake. “I stand corrected.” Jorl the Storm Griffon said while the Dead King browsed the latest news on the interlink. “You are not as stupid as I thought, but your obsession with your brother is your best redeeming quality. “I would have never thought that all that time you spent reading the gossip about him and looking at his photos would actually pay off.” “I’ll take that as a compliment.” Orpal couldn’t stop smiling, yet his left eye twitched every time he read an article praising Lith or celebrating his latest feat. Every word was a stab through his heart, fuelling his endless envy.