Chapter 4125: Words of Caution (Part 2) "Maybe next time." The Fire Griffon exchanged communication runes with her first, drawing Menadion’s glare and ire. "I’ll let you deal with the Council Verhen. I’m sorry, but we are not interested in whatever Narchat does. "Only in Jorl. Call us the moment you spot him again, and we’ll take care of Jorl and any ally he has. As for the tower, finder keeper." He said before bolting away with the rest of the storm. "You know he’s only after your bloodline, right?" Much to everyone’s surprise, after the Griffons left, Crank spoke before Lith. "I do." Solus sighed. "It’s the Verhens’ burden. Being Menadion’s heir makes it even heavier." "Look at the bright side." Crank reverted into a honey badger and patted her shoulder. "That son of a snake Phillard left us high and dry, and the Griffons returned him the favor. He missed his reward." "Serves him right." Solus said with a chuckle. "Now what?" "Now I’ll gladly accept a ride home." The Hyperion took food out of his dimensional amulet and offered it to his guests. "I have an entire region to take care of and a mountain of paperwork that needs my signature back home. "Can I leave contacting the Royals and the Council to you, Verhen? There are too many prying ears in my mansion, and all it takes to ruin our advantage is one nosy moron." "I’ll talk to them and let you know their decision. I’ll also ensure you are properly rewarded, Crank." Lith nodded. "Speaking of morons, what about Phillard?" "One moment." The Hyperion took his dimensional amulet and called the Lindwurm. "Cranky! You’re alive!" The joy in his voice was honest, but Crank didn’t miss how fast the background moved. Phillard was still running away at his top speed, just to be safe. "Not thanks to you, you bastard!" The Hyperion said. "You can take your time going home. An entire storm of Griffons came to our rescue and drove the Upyrs away." "Tell me another!" Phillard scoffed. "That’s too convenient. The Upyrs must have captured you and are trying to lure me back and get rid of the last loose end. Don’t worry, my friend, I’ll make you a great tombst- "Wait a moment! Verhen did call the Griffons before we attacked!" "And they arrived." Crank expanded the hologram to show everyone and the now-empty spot of the Black Throne. "What about the reward?" The Lindwurm came to a screeching halt, his tail shaking in excitement. "We’ll talk about that when you get back home." Crank replied. "Until that moment, don’t tell anyone about what happened. You know what would happen if people thought Narchat has a second mage tower, right?" "Wrong." Phillard shook his head. "We’ll talk about that as well then." The Hyperion sighed. "Until that moment, keep your mouth shut. Okay?" "As long as dinner and drinks are on you, you have my word! Phillard out." "What if he demands a part of your reward in exchange for his silence?" Lith asked. "Then I’ll have to share." Crank shrugged. "Or I might just kill him. Whatever comes easier." *** 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂 It took Lith a few minutes to bring the Hyperion back to Mirana, and from there, one step to reach the Verhen Mansion from the local Association’s Gate. He sent a message to Kamila to tell her the mission was over and everything was fine, but he didn’t go to meet her. Lith set the tower in the keep to allow Solus to recover and moved straight to business. "Everybody, stay with me please." Lith took his communication amulet out of his pocket dimension. "I’ll try to be quick, but we might be questioned one at a time." He used the emergency call to summon both the Royals and the Fyrwal. It was up to her to contact the rest of the Council representatives. "I have some news." Lith said the moment the last hologram appeared. "Whether they turn out good or catastrophic, only time will tell. Let me talk until the end before asking any questions, or this will take all day." Lith told them everything that had happened after they had picked up Crank and Phillard. The audience turned interested when Lith revealed that he had recognized Uragar’s energy signature from such a distance, and then terrified when he reported the encounter with the Black Throne. He used holograms to show them every detail he had noticed about the cursed tower’s appearance and enchantments. Then, he proceeded to recount the fight against the Upyrs and the deadly abilities of the two cursed objects. Lastly, he told them about the Griffons’ intervention and Solus’ assessment of the current situation. "Thank the gods you had contacted the Griffons, and they came with all haste." The King pondered. "Otherwise, this story might have had a very different ending." "I don’t like your decision not to report to us sooner and ask for reinforcements, but you made the right choice, Magus Verhen." The Queen massaged her pulsing temples. "No one else could have come faster, and the risk of a mage tower falling in Narchat’s hands was too great. Necessity superseded protocol." "I can guarantee you that Jorl didn’t get the tower, Your Majesty." Friya said. "It already had a unique life force and energy signature when we found it, and it was still the same when it left." "A mage tower." Fyrwal had a hard time repressing her Dragon Greed. "Did Ripha recognize it?" "No, I didn’t." Lith conjured the First Ruler of the Flames. "I can tell you this, though. All its enchantments were modern. It possessed both Silverwing’s Annihilation and Bastion. "I recognized many modern spells that didn’t exist until a decade ago, so it must be recent. Bottom line, it might be superior to my own tower." Those words filled everyone with dread. "Can a mage that talented go unnoticed by Awakened and fake mages alike?" Meron’s question caught everyone by surprise, mostly because he used the term ’fake mages’ to refer to himself and the Queen. "Sadly, yes." Raagu’s temples pulsed so hard that Sylpha had a mild headache in comparison. "Our community discourages talented youth from stepping into the light. Take Verhen, for example. You discovered his talent years before we did." "Moreover, if he didn’t attend the academy because his family had the skill and means to Forgemaster a tower, I bet the Council would know nothing of him to this day." Lotho sighed. "What if nobody recognizes this unknown tower not because it’s new, but because it’s older than us all?" Meron pondered. "What if we’re dealing with the Black Throne?" "What is that, Your Majesty?" Lith checked all the tomes stored in the library, but found no mention of the name. A quick mind link with Menadion confirmed to him that not even the First Ruler of the Flames knew about it. "It’s just a legend." Raagu snorted. "The boogeyman for young and stupid Forgemasters." "As Verhen said, let us speak until the end, or this will take all day." Sylpha gestured to the others for silence. "Back when Verhen went to Verendi and fought against the local Council, Lady Tyris came to us and showed us the images of the conflict. "Then, out of nowhere, she warned us about the Black Throne."