Lith’s seven eyes burned with mana and determination. The punch was unbelievably fast, but telegraphed. He dodged before Treius’s arm even started to move and conjured at the same time an air cushion. The moving fist produced shockwaves in the air which Lith surfed like a wave thanks to the air cushion. The maneuver made him avoid the blow with ease. Treius reacted by twisting his hips and aiming the next punch were Lith was supposed to land. A sudden jolt of agony made him miss the target by almost five meters (16’). A second and a third one forced him to fall on his knees, his stomach twisted in a knot. ’I cut off all my pain receptors, why do I still feel it then?’ Treius saw the Gatekeeper appear in Lith’s hands amid blazing emerald flames. He knew no blade could hurt him, but nonetheless he felt fear. ’I don’t know.’ The Black Star replied, experiencing terror for the second time in its life. Lith didn’t only cleave the Kadurians’ life force, but he had also enveloped it into a bubble made of spirit magic. The moment he had completed his harvest, he had brought the black spheres near the dragon. The Black Star predatory nature had done the rest. The butchered energy had been mixed together with the healthy one and was now crippling Treius’s dragon form. To work properly, a body needed a precise set of instructions that were provided by the life force. Even if the Black Star was adapting the human life force to match the dragon form, all the damage Lith had inflicted on it was still there. The corrupted energy was a living torture for its host, stopping the organs it flowed through. Limbs would fall limp, organs would stop working. The Black Star didn’t realize the gravity of the situation until the illness spread to Treius’s brain and heart. The failure of such organs would bring more than damages it could easily heal. The dragon’s eyes rolled over, leaving only the sclera visible. He couldn’t breathe or even think. Treius fell to the ground while Lith darted toward the mighty creature now reduced to a fish in a barrel. The Black Star had no choice but to withdraw its powers. Treius gasped back to life, feeling weak and sluggish. He saw Lith approaching with his blade ready at hand, brimming with power. He used air and earth fusion to dodge, but without the cursed object’s help, he was back at square one. His body never had the time to adapt to the new core nor he wore his uncle’s magical protections. Without enough vigor, such a huge body was just a bigger target. Lith’s first slash chopped off one of the giant feet, making Treius fall backward. Lith vertically wall ran on the stump while the opponent’s body was still in mid air. Treius had no time to cast a spell, so he tried to claw the enemy away. His hands flew off with a spurt of blood yet not a drop touched Lith who was already above the chest area. Treius screamed in terror while Lith roared with anger, releasing from his mouth another jet of blue flames that entered the dragon’s maw. Treius’s head burst into flames, his eyes popped like balloons. Lith decapitated him anyway, just to be safe. When the Black Star emerged from the dragon’s mutilated body, the forgemastering circle was already active. The runes from the Repentance spell flew inside the cursed object. Lith had no more words but the chant until its very end. At the seventh rune, the cursed object rather than a crystal star resembled a bunch of glass shards glued together. "Stop! I beg of you! You have seen what I’m capable of. Imagine if I had a suitable host instead of a pampered idiot. You have no reason to kill me. You know how to paralyze me, take your time and think carefully about what you’re doing." Treius’s body reverted to his natural appearance, yet the head kept burning until only ashes remained. When the twelfth and final rune crashed into the Black Star, its fragments imploded emitting a thud sound. The black clouds inside and outside Kaduria disappeared. The tribulation was over. The light phase and the shadow phase were no more, only the real sun shone high above Lith’s head. Then, the ruins of Kaduria emitted a blinding light that took the form of countless shooting stars of different sizes. Most plunged into Mogar, returning to the planet the energy that had been stolen over the centuries. The rest flew toward the horizon, disappearing with the speed of light. Lith used Invigoration to mend his wounds and recover the energies spent during the battle. The rage was gone, only the abyss remained. It made him feel emptier than ever. "I hope you have watched me carefully, Yurial." Lith spoke to himself. If not even a nutjob like Redan had turned into a ghost long enough to say goodbye, someone like Yurial was bound to be at peace, wherever he was. "I told you countless times, Wardens are not useless and neither were you. It’s all a matter of timing your decisions. If you had asked Quylla out instead of admiring her from afar you would still be alive, you damn moron." Lith said with a sigh. "What I’m trying to say is: thank you. Today you saved my life." ’Lith still thinks about Yurial whenever he casts an array.’ Solus thought. ’I wish they had more time together. I wish I could hug Lith tight and tell him that everything will be alright.’ Lith walked outside the barrier and after a lot of thinking, he called Lieutenant Kamila Yehval, his handler. He gave her a full and meticulously doctored version of the events in Kaduria. Kamila had a hard time believing him. She asked him to go back inside and gave him precise instructions on how to take scans of his surroundings with the army’s amulet. "It’s amazing!" It was the only thing she managed to say once she received all the data. She put him on hold before contacting their superiors. Even the smallest events regarding a lost city had to be reported up to the top of the chain of command, let alone its recovery. It was an unprecedented event. "Our Commanding Officers want to hear it directly from you. You are expected to meet them tomorrow at noon at the Headquarters. Aside from that, you are on leave for the next three days." "A three days leave? I was in the field for only two days." The news surprised Lith. "I know, but orders are orders. Return to Belius as soon as you can and enjoy your vacation." After turning off his military communication amulet, Lith took out his civilian one and called his potential date. "Hi, Kamila." "Hi, Lith. Wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon." She replied with a giggle. Her tone was different from before. She sounded more relaxed. "Me neither. That pain in the ass of my handler just gave me three days of leave out of the blue. Can you believe it?" "Really? Three days?" She chuckled. "What will you do with so much free time?" "Depends. Are you free for dinner tonight?"