Chapter 4007: Unforeseen Variable (Part 2)

"I’m pretty sure that if that were the case, she would have mentioned it when we asked her." Orion replied. "Besides, arrays were never the specialty of the Forge Magus. If I had to bet, I’d say Tessa came up with and built this place.

"I have yet to meet someone as talented as her in magical formations."

’Actually, I think Vastor might be on her same level or even better after he became an Abomination-human hybrid, but it’s not my place to reveal his secrets.’ She thought.

"Why didn’t you ask Tessa for help then?" Tista actually said, her breathing still ragged. "She is much more experienced and talented than I am. I learned everything I know about Warden magic from Raagu, but I have little practical experience with it."

Even with the help of the Mouth of Menadion, arrays took time to cast, but their greatest flaw was that once set, their position was fixed. When dealing with a creature the size of a Divine Beast, one array wasn’t enough to cover their entire body.

To make matters worse, they just needed to take one step away to make a complex spell pointless.

"Because you guaranteed me you’ve never stopped practicing Warden magic, you possess the Mouth of Menadion and several wonderful bloodline abilities, and most of all, because I can trust you with my family’s life." Orion replied.

"I know you have only our best interests at heart, Tista, whereas Tessa’s loyalty is questionable at best. When she helped rescue my Little Flower, Tessa didn’t really care about Phloria.

"She only did it to honor Juria Ernas’ memory. Now, instead, the descendants of Juria are at odds with those of Oghrom. Tessa doesn’t know or care about any member of either family and can’t pick a side without stepping over the bond she shared with one of her old friends.

"Tessa is known for being heartless and amoral. The only interests she would protect if put between a rock and a hard place are her own. I can’t risk involving her just for her to side with the Gernoff or not fully commit to my side.

"Even if she agreed to help me, I wouldn’t put it past her to warn the Gernoff of the danger of my new arrays. After all, Tessa cares about preserving the bloodline of Oghrom, and if this plan works, dozens of them will die, if not hundreds.

"Asking her to set the new arrays would require letting her catch a glimpse of our strategy and understand the full potential of the magical formations surrounding the Ernas mansion.

"At that point, she might tip the Gernoff off just enough to avoid massive casualties, which is exactly what we want. Tessa is an unreliable ally, which makes her much worse than an honest enemy."

"What about Professor Vastor?" Tista nodded.

"As a Highmaster, Zogar’s skill with arrays is unparalleled, but he’s just a human." Orion shrugged, not knowing how wrong he was. "He couldn’t deal with so many arrays as quickly as you did.

"Besides, Jirni doesn’t trust him much, and to be honest, neither do I. There is something fishy in how quickly Zogar’s power increased after decades of stagnation. And don’t get me started on all those ’relatives’ of his.

"The Ernas Household is our final bastion, and its secrets can’t be revealed to anyone who hasn’t earned our full faith."

"So, I was your third best option." Tista frowned for a moment before breaking into an exhausted smile. "Still, I’ll take your words as a compliment. I may not be the most talented or brilliant Warden you know, but you put the lives of everyone you know in my hands.

"It’s the greatest honor you could give me, and I hope that what I’m about to say will prove me worthy of that trust and make you happy. There’s a good reason I am so tired. As I mentioned earlier, I successfully set up every array you requested.

"After that, I still had enough energy to give your defensive system a little spin of my own." Tista stood up slowly, her legs still unsteady.

She conjured the power of the arrays devised by Orion, but activated only the portion within the confines of the control room.

Their effects were no less than Orion expected, but no more either. At least until he saw ice conjure fire, darkness turn into light, and solid earth appear out of thin air.

"This place is so rich in world energy that I managed to activate Vital Storm even in my Hekate form. It kicked my core up a notch and allowed me to turn a few magical formations into Void Arrays."

"I thought tier five Void Magic didn’t exist yet." Orion said while tapping into the spell matrix of the magical formations and checking their new and improved capabilities.

"It doesn’t." Tista sighed. "Lith already perfected tier four, though, and he shared everything about it with me. The destructive power of your magical formations hasn’t changed much, but their versatility has greatly increased.

"Also, if you consider that only a few people practice Void Magic and even fewer have seen it in action, the surprise effect should give you an extra edge over the Gernoff."

"This is worth much more than you think." Orion said after getting accustomed to the different effects of each Void Array. "In the chaos of battle, a single unforeseen variable can turn the tide and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

"The Gernoff know about Tessa and surely also know that Zogar is a Highmaster. Void Magic, instead, has yet to be publicly applied to arrays. The Gernoff have no idea it is even possible and can’t factor it in for their plans.

He turned around to look Tista in the eyes and took her hand into his.

"You had proved yourself worthy of my trust the moment you accepted to help me without asking anything in return, Tista." Orion said. "What you did makes me more than happy. It makes me confident.

"For the first time since Jiza Gernoff threatened my wife, I believe we can make it out of this alive."

***

Blood Desert, Starry Lagoon village, at the same time.

Lith and Solus were still consoling Jirni for Dripha’s latest blunder when Salaark summoned them to her office.

"Why?" Jirni said while holding the baby girl in her arms. "Why do you call any blonde woman mom except for me?"

Dripha replied with coos and baby babble that explained little and did nothing to improve her mother’s mood.

"I’m sorry, Jirni. We have to go." Lith said.

"Bye, Jirni. Bye, Dripha." Solus waved her hand.

"Mama!" Dripha waved her hand back, and if glares could maim, Solus would have left the room in a bucket.

"Poor Jirni. She can’t catch a break." Lith said after Warping himself and Solus to the Overlord’s quarters in the tower.

"I feel her pain." Salaark raised her eyes from the mountain of paperwork on her desk.

Usually, during Lith’s visits to the Blood Desert, she used the Library to store the countless documents she had to deal with every day and finish her work in minutes instead of hours.

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