Supreme Magus

"Quisar didn't see him coming and thanks to his steed, not even the arrays could stop us. We have combined our strength and soon Quisar will-"

"Orpal is there?" Thrud cut the Hippogriff short, her voice filled with dread.

His contribution to the battle would force her to split the loot in half with him. Quisar was one of the biggest targets of that day's agenda which meant she would lose a lot of resources. Yet magical crystals and metals were the least of her concerns.

"Yes. We are winning." Ginma repeated, to make sure that his liege understood he carried good news.

"I don't give a fuck about winning a single battle nor killing a mere elder. Order the retreat and have Orpal call me. Now!" The Hippogriff had no idea what was happening, but Thrud's tone didn't leave space for argument.

She even interrupted her own mission, drumming her fingers against the communication amulet in a frenzy until the Dead King's rune finally lit up.

"What's wrong, sugar lips? Do you feel lonely without your boy toy and want the company of a real man?" He asked with that confident grin that she had hated since the first moment they had met.

"What are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to take care of Lith during the trap?" She asked, obtaining a peal of sardonic laughter in reply.

"Did you think that I'm a poor idiot? Even before meeting Night, I've always been good at math." Orpal said. "I counted how many precious undead I had to sacrifice and how many resources my Undead Courts had to lose in order to make the Council believe the information that I intentionally leaked.

"I've noticed how every time you have problems controlling the occupied cities it's 'our business' whereas when the Council gets close to my position it's 'my business' and you tell me to deal with it on my own.

"I'm not going to stay idle while you grow your power and let mine dwindle. I know that in the case of my unfortunate death, you would step in and take control of the Undead Courts by exploiting the power vacuum.

"Well, guess what, sweetheart. We are in this war together. If I take risks and losses, then it's only fair for you to share my same fate. I prepared the trap according to our plan, investing a lot of resources and Chosen in it.

"You have no right to comfortably sit on the sidelines while I do all the hard work. That's why I invited Jormun to my home. Your dear husband will fight in my place so that, either we win or lose, it will be a team effort.

"Also, retreating from Quisar's lair was your choice hence it shouldn't affect my share of the loot. I'll take most of it since I did most of the work and don't you dare question my decision or we'll see how long you can last without me." Orpal hung up the call and Thrud started screaming with mad fury.

Due to Manohar's meddling, she had been forced to start the war before completing all the necessary preparations. On top of that, after meeting Night, most of Thrud's plans were based on the assumption that she had the support of the Undead Courts.

She knew that if Orpal were to retreat, her newfound Kingdom would crumble after the first big mistake that she made. Winning wasn't always possible yet losing wouldn't be an option anymore.

To make matters worse, Orpal knew it as well. It was the reason he was so confident taking most of the loot and that there would be no consequence for him even if Jormun were to die.

Not until the end of the war, at least.

'This is such a great day. I've put that bitch into her place, either Jormun or Leech will die today, and I've gotten way more than what I lost in the residence that Leech raided.

'Thrud will probably be mad at me for a while, but this war is not going to end soon. She'll have the time to get off her high horse and learn to respect me.' He thought with a huge grin on his face.

'I pray for your victory Leech. I want you all for myself so don't you dare die on me. Also, if Jormun croaks, his grieving widow would be eager to help me get rid of you. Last, but not least, once she gets tired of sleeping alone, she'll gladly welcome my company to warm her bed.'

***

Gorgon Empire. Base of the Night Court located underground the city of Panat, at the same time.

When Solus kicked down the door, the Emerald Dragon instinctively unsheathed his Dragonclaw blade and started weaving spells with both his mind and body, readying himself for the fight.

Neither Jormun nor the elite Awakened accompanying him had noticed the fight taking place outside the room because Orpal had taken care of making his private quarters soundproof.

"Little Brother Lith!" The Emerald Dragon said with a kindness and a joy in his voice that reminded the Tiamat of the time they had escaped together from the Golden Griffon, except that now they could understand each other.

"Jakra? What are you doing here?" 

"I was going to ask you the same question."

Lith didn't like what he saw one bit. The members of the five-man unit accompanying him all exuded a powerful deep violet aura and were armed to the teeth with Adamant.

Jakra and the Tiamat both had light violet streaks in their aura, matching their powers. Yet while the enemy side had what Lith could only call masterpieces, his team wore mostly Orichalcum, himself included.

Friya and Phloria had a bright blue aura, Tista a light blue, and Solus a deep blue with lighter streaks. The comparison was humbling.

'I defeated Jakra once, I can do it again. Friya has the Adamant armor that Faluel made for her and the railgun so I don't have to worry about her. Phloria is a veteran and she fully charged her blade, Reaver. She's fine on her own as well.

'Tista, however, is too weak and the darkness sealing array that she prepared along with a few others to counter Night's skills are useless now. Solus's physical strength is second to none and the Fury is powerful, but she's magically weak and she can't properly use her hammer inside such a small space.

'We might squeeze out a win if we go all out and Tista manages to use her new flames, but I doubt that we'll all come out of here alive.' Lith thought.

Neither side lowered their weapons nor stopped to wave spells, both ready to fight until their last breath. Tista dispelled the arrays and cast new ones while Sunder's claws extended into blades.

Between the self-defense lessons that Elina had given her ever since she had recovered from the Strangler disease and her training with Lith, her claws were the weapons she was most confident with.

Sunder had turned out to be the perfect weapon for her, allowing Tista to switch freely from close-quarters combat to mid-range without losing her rhythm. Alas, just like for Nalrond, Lith had only lent it to her.