Chapter 4036: Sick Play (Part 1)

"A black shadow?" Orpal echoed. "I thought Leech was stuck in the Desert."

"He was." The Jormungandr nodded. "It wasn’t Verhen, that’s all I know. Filos and Nuron were still alive when our troops in Essagor started to drop like flies."

"What about the damage?" The Dead King’s nostrils flared in anger, and his eyes shone with inner red light.

"Irrelevant." Erion replied. "The Upyrs killed a few people and destroyed a few buildings, but nothing worth mentioning. The Essagor region will be up and running like usual in a week, tops."

"Fine! What about the others?" Orpal calmed down only after hearing several positive reports about his army suffering little losses and inflicting widespread destruction in several regions of the Kingdom.

Yet he couldn’t bring himself to smile. Those were all targets meaningful for his minions, he had no interest in them and considered them barely a sideshow to display his strength.

’Once again, Orpal’s plan proved effective mostly on secondary objectives, against enemies who hadn’t prepared any real defensive measures.’ Jorl thought, but kept such a consideration to himself.

"I grow tired of hearing about small victories." The Dead King grunted. "What about the important targets? My targets?"

"The unit sent against the White Griffon faced total annihilation as well." Erion said after a brief pause. "We have no idea what happened because there are no survivors nor witnesses."

"How is that possible?" Orpal jumped up from his throne. "I sent over one hundred Upyrs there! As many as in Lutia!"

’One of the six great academies is no easy prey, you moron.’ Jorl inwardly scoffed. ’There is a reason if even Thrud’s advance stopped in front of the White Griffon, and I’m ready to bet we wouldn’t fare any better against it.’

Only those who had personally taken part in the final battle of the War of the Griffons knew the secret of the six great academies, and they had all sworn secrecy to ensure that no one could learn from Thrud’s mistake.

Even Erion knew nothing about it since the Garlen Council would never trust the Awakened from Jiera with such knowledge.

"Then tell me about Derios!" The Dead King snarled.

"Derios held, but half our troops returned alive." The Jormungandr replied.

"Only half?"

"The stasis field surrounding the Distar Household neutralized Frost Soul, and without it, even Divine Beasts can’t hold out for long against an army of fake mages while relying only on Spirit Magic.

"The moment the Upyrs lost the element of surprise, it was a massacre. They could only choose between standing and dying or running and surviving. They picked the latter."

"Let me get this straight." Orpal looked around, realizing that half his troops were either dead or captured. "Vastor is alive. The Ernas are alive. The Distar bitch is alive."

With each nod he received from Erion, the Dead King’s fury grew.

"Is my unit the only one that has successfully completed its mission?"

"Not at all. There are also the units sent to Lorion, Zantia, Gacri-"

"I mean an important mission!" Orpal snarled, cutting Erion short.

"Those are cities that hold key strategic relevance in future conflicts." The Jormungandr scoffed. "But if all you are interested in is your revenge against your brother, then yes."

***

Garlen, Distar region, ruins of Lutia, at the same time.

After making sure that Faluel was safe and with her Friya, Lith left Rizel in the care of the Hydras.

"Not to sound ungrateful, but do you have any idea what happened to Zekell the blacksmith?" He asked.

"No, I’m sorry." Faluel sighed, sipping nutrients from a dimensional canteen. "The attack started in the middle of Lutia, and by the time we arrived, we had to focus on Meln and his seconds in command. There was no time to rescue people one by one."

"What seconds in commands?" Lith said.

"Two Divine Beasts. A Griffon and a Bastet." Faluel replied. "It seems that Vurdalak blood is like the color black. It goes well with everything. Those bastards had Meln’s bloodline abilities on top of their own."

"We’ll talk about this later." Lith had so many questions, but the only one that mattered at the moment was whether he had to deliver to Rena the news of her in-laws’ death and explain to the kids the reason they would never see their paternal grandparents again.

"Do you mind showing these holograms around, Faluel?" He projected the faces of Zekell and his wife, Sirma.

’Have you thought about calling them?’ Solus said from the tower. ’Zekell’s rune is still active.’

’Fuck me sideways, I must have my head up my ass to forget about that.’ Lith inwardly cursed.

’I’m not there, and I too have my head up my ass.’ Solus looked at Lutia solely through the Watchtower, knowing that if she shared Lith’s eyes, she would start to cry. ’A mob blamed you for this disaster and almost tried to lynch you.

’Cut yourself some slack. Do it for the both of us, please.’

Solus considered Lutia her birthplace. It was where she had lived since regaining her consciousness and losing all the memories of her old life. She had seen the small village grow and develop into a fine, prosperous city over time.

With each one of Lith’s and Solus’ achievements, the business increased, and more people came to Lutia. Only a handful of people knew of her contribution to Lith’s feats, but Solus considered the current Lutia one of her creations.

She had laid no foundation nor placed a single stone, yet she brimmed with pride every time that she walked through the bustling streets of the city. It was proof of how much two people could make a difference for many.

Of how much she made the difference.

Seeing Lutia in such a wretched state was a stab to her heart. The voices of the merchants were gone, replaced by the desperate cries of those who had lost their house, their loved ones, or both.

The paved roads were covered in blood, and guts and gore covered every corner of Lutia like festoons of some savage festival.

Lutia still stood. Many of its citizens were still alive. Yet the Lutia in Solus’ heart was gone, replaced by the testament to Orpal’s cruelty.

Solus had never met Lith’s brother as a boy. She had awakened from her slumber after his disownment and knew the young Orpal only through Lith’s memories. Yet she felt responsible for the destruction he had wrought.

’Meln came here because of us. He’s insane, but this is our fault. We should have known that something like this was bound to happen sooner or later. We should have prepared something to protect Lutia.’ Solus thought in a corner of her mind where Lith couldn’t hear her.

He already carried a heavy burden, and she didn’t want to add her own.

Unaware of her struggles, Lith pressed Zekell’s contact rune. The blacksmith answered almost immediately.

"Thank the gods! I’ve tried to call you the gods know how many times, but this piece of junk didn’t work." Zekell seemed to be in one piece, and so was Sirma, his wife.

The couple was covered in dirt and soot, but that was the least of Lith’s worries.

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