Chapter 4278: Venom Fang (Part 2)

After a few seconds, even those with no hair that could bristle felt the mass of accumulated mana pressed against their skin, no matter how distant from Bladerock Mound they were.

When Faluel couldn’t contain Venom Fang anymore, she shot the proto-Blade Spell above her head. It produced a pillar of energy that pierced through the clouds and cleared the night sky.

The light of the moon, the stars, and that released by Venom Fang lit Bladerock Mound as if it were under a giant spotlight compared to the darkness of the rest of the Jeghon Plains.

For a brief moment, the sun seemed to have appeared in the night sky. Its brilliance drove away the shadows and forced the people in the crowd to shield their eyes with their upper limbs.

Then, as the Blade Spell got further and further away, it became a second moon and then a small star that twinkled among the constellations for a few moments before disappearing in the blackness of space forever.

The undead called it a reverse nova, but anyone who had not lived long enough to see such a phenomenon to occur naturally called it a miracle.

"I’m sorry for the poor execution and delivery, but I got Gungnir just yesterday." Faluel said, making the Awakened either gasp or look at the priceless weapons they carried with them as if they were rotten garbage. "That’s all from me. Lith."

She stepped back, leaving the center stage to her former apprentice again.

"That’s the kind of Blade Weapon I make." Lith said. "I take no orders from anyone. If you want your own Blade Weapon, fetch me those who are plotting against my family.

"In case someone gets funny ideas, know that I always have my grandmother’s help when I interrogate my prisoners. You can’t just frame someone and get away with a free Blade Weapon."

The Liches booed him at the top of their magically amplified voices since their lungs were as dried up as the rest of their bodies.

It was actually a lie. Salaark refused to help Lith in his investigations and only allowed him access to her Pits of Agony. Yet her mind-reading abilities were well-known, and by mentioning them, Lith weeded out the potential false accusations.

"Hence, your prize will only be delivered after the confession if it proves that the prisoner was indeed conspiring against my family or me. Before accepting a prisoner, I’ll require you to share the circumstances that led you to suspect them with a mind link.

"If it turns out you’ve brought me an innocent, you’ll be blacklisted and lose the right to receive one of my Blade Weapons forever. Also, since I know many of you like to quibble, I’m interested only in those who can have the power and means to succeed.

"If a petty merchant is jealous of my father and tries to harm his business, their capture won’t earn you a Blade Weapon. The same applies if you catch some idiot trying to ruin my mother’s garden.

"Those are low-level threats I can deal with myself. So, don’t waste my and your time by bringing in the first fool you find badmouthing the Verhens."

More grumbles ensued as the Liches realized that getting themselves a Blade Weapon would take actual effort. Somehow, the Tiamat seemed to have inherited Salaark’s mind-reading abilities and had foiled their brilliant plans.

"That’s it. I have nothing more to say. Have a good hunt." Lith turned around and Warped back to his home, leaving the Divine Beasts, the nobles, and the members of the Council to discuss what they had just seen and heard.

Inxialot, the Lich King, was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He wanted nothing more than to go back to his lab and resume his research, yet he would forever regret wasting an opportunity like this.

Even if Inxialot would forget all about Lith’s offer in a matter of hours, Nero would not. Whenever he whined about lacking a Blade Weapon or suffered a defeat, his feline companion would never let him hear the end of it.

"Very well played, Nero!" The Lich’s eyes narrowed in fury, and his voice expressed all the anger he felt from losing the imaginary arguments with his pet. "Let’s go for a walk."

The Emperor Beast’s jaw and those of all the spiders who inhabited Inxialot’s bones fell to the floor. None of them was old enough to remember the last time when the Lich King had used his legs to move around instead of just Blinking.

Inxialot started by interrogating those attending the event about their relationship with the Verhens. It went on until Nero kindly pointed out that those who had come to the Jeghon Plains with his same purpose were unlikely to have bad intentions.

"That’s a good point." The Lich King sighed. "I have no clue what I’m doing. Nero, you take the lead."

The small black "cat" conjured a tendril of Spirit Magic and formed a mind link with Inxialot, refreshing his memory about the most recent events in Lutia.

The Lich disappeared, his decisiveness rushing the rest of the crowd to make up their mind before they fell behind their undead competitor.

Every person with a shred of social life had overheard a few drunken people envious of Lith discussing what they wished happened to him and what they would do to his family, given the chance.

Back then, the attendees had dismissed such words as bar talk fueled by alcohol after a bad day. Now, however, the Awakened couldn’t help but wonder how many among their neighbors had listened to those same conversations and already knew the identity of the suspects.

More and more Warp Steps opened as the crowd surrounding the Bladerock Mound dispersed. In less than a minute, the only sounds disturbing the night’s peace were the pops and crackles from the air displacement.

Identifying those "dangerous criminals" wasn’t enough. All those who wanted to get their hands on a Blade Weapon also had to find their quarry before someone else did.

***

"That went well." Lith observed the reaction of his guests through the Surveillance Mirror of the tower. "They seemed very interested, and they left in a rush."

"I would be surprised otherwise." Fyrwal replied. "Fanny here left quite an impression on her audience. By the way, was it true what you said about not accepting orders? Not even from friends?"

"I’m sorry, yes." Solus nodded. "The more Blade Weapons we produce, the less value they have. Besides, why bother chasing shadows if you can just pay to get a Blade Weapon? Powerful creatures need a powerful motivator to move their old, lazy asses."

"Sad, but true." Fyrwal sighed.

"Why are you sighing?" Menadion said, her tone expressing her full resentment for the Elder Hydra’s attitude. "You already have a Blade Weapon. My Dreamweaver Staff is still a masterpiece."

"Emphasis on still." Fyrwal replied. "It’s almost a thousand years old, Ripha, just like Tessa’s Morning Dew. We had no Creation Magic to dismantle our weapons nor access to anyone who could reforge them with modern magic.

"Otherwise, we wouldn’t have struggled so much against Thrud and her minions during the War of the Griffons."

"You have a point." The First Ruler of the Flames said, tormenting her chin.

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