2261 Natural Enemy (Part 1)

'If I take Verhen down, the Demons will fade and the Golems will stop. It all comes down to him and me again, but this time no Guardian will interrupt us.'

The Garuda used the speed from his wings and the Life Maelstrom to move too fast for the Awakened forces to stop him amid the chaos of battle.

Xondar was confident in taking down the Tiamat because Garudas were considered the closest thing to a Dragon's natural enemy.

They were capable of flight, had four prehensile limbs, were physically stronger, and were talented in close-quarter combat. Dragon Eyes could do nothing against raw physical might and Life Maelstrom made the gap even wider.

When a Dragon and a Garuda met, it was all about distances. If the Dragon managed to keep the Garuda away, they could win. If the Garuda came close, the battle would be over in seconds.

Despite his unusual appearance and odd bloodline powers, the Tiamat was still considered a Dragon by the Awakened community.

Lith was too busy weaving the second Ruin to cast other spells so Xondar's arrival caught him unprepared. One second the Garuda had been behind Bima's walls and the next he was in front of Lith.

Xondar lunged his spear at the Tiamat's head, forcing him to dispel Ruin and block. The charge was too quick and strong for Lith to stop it but he still managed to thrust forward with War.

The blade slid along the haft of the spear, pushing it aside and dispersing the force of the blow.

The Garuda sighed in relief as his plan succeeded.

With no time to waste, he had opted for a simple attack, easy to predict but strong enough to kill. Xondar couldn't risk performing a complex maneuver and give Lith the time to complete the Blade Tier spell.

'I'm in the air and he's on the ground. I have Life Maelstrom and he's weakened. This is already over.' The Garuda thought until something strange happened.

He was about to push War's tip away to disrupt Lith's guard when something came out of it. Life Vision didn't show him any dimensional opening, yet a golden figure was popping into existence right in front of his face.

Solus had traveled through War which Lith's lounge had brought meters away from her target. She held a Fury in each hand, hammering with both in the face of the still-flabbergasted Garuda.

'What's the point? She's so sm-' Despite her size, Solus had the mass of a Divine Beast, and her Furies' heads were made of purified Davross.

Xondar felt as if a mountain had dropped on his head while the blow threw him off balance. With no more obstacles in its path, War severed the Garuda's neck in one swing.

Solus squashed the head with her hammers while Lith pierced through the Garuda's heart until War's hilt struck the armor. Xondar's body disappeared, recalled by the Golden Griffon before it turned into a corpse and the mana core cracked.

"That was amazing!" From her Throne Room, Thrud gave the Tiamat a standing ovation. "Verhen killed a violet-cored Divine Beast in seconds. How was that possible?"

"That's Solus, my Liege." Phloria explained. "No matter where he goes or how bad a situation is. Lith is never alone. They are one in mind, body, and core. You can't face one without the other."

Despite the slave spell, Phloria was cheering for him as well. Thrud could see her new servant smile with a mix of pride, joy, and sadness.

"Really? What does his wife think about her?" 

"The last time we talked, Kamila told me that she's happy to have Solus in her life." Phloria's face darkened as her enslaved persona blamed Solus for all the bumps in her relationship with Lith.

"Kamila says that knowing that Solus is always watching Lith's back puts her heart at rest."

"Damn right she is." Thrud clenched her hands in anger. "I wish that Jormun had his own Solus. This way, he would still be alive."

The Mad Queen took notes of every ability that Lith used and Phloria explained, passing them to her Generals in a way that would keep the secret of the tower hidden. Luckily for her, everyone already knew that Lith was some kind of Horseman.

The fight between Solus and Hystar was yesterday's news. Everyone thought that Lith was like Acala, no more and no less.

Meanwhile, in Zeska, the Kingdom's army had taken the city by storm.

After the fall of the arrays, reaching and taking control of the Warp Gate had been child's play. Everything had happened so fast that the defending army had failed to grasp the situation and react in time.

Truth be told, even though the attackers knew Lith's plan, they had been taken aback as well. If not for Orion yelling until the Generals had snapped out of their stupor and the Golems leading the battle, things wouldn't have gone so smoothly.

"Good gods, what was that?" Lotho the Treant asked Lith as soon as he came to retrieve Raptor and Trouble.

"Is that a trick question? Anyway, I don't have time to waste. Just tell me if the troops have reached the city of Phogia as planned. There's no point for me taking down the defense system if there's no one to take control of the city."

"Slow down, kid." Lotho said. "I can't cast Blade Spells, but I know how they work. They take a huge toll on both mana and power cores. You need time to rest."

"No, I don't." Lith shook his head. "I used Invigoration only once to charge my Golems so I'm still full of energy."

As he spoke, Trouble and Raptor dispelled the Demons and entered standby mode. By standing next to Lith, they would slowly recharge thanks to the runes and the elemental crystals absorbing the world energy from the geyser below Zeska.

"How is that possible?" Crank was back in his honey badger form, scratching his head and butt in confusion.

"I may have not Forgemastered War, but these two babies are all me." Lith showed them the Sage Staff and Double Edge.

The former was drawing in the world energy, greatly enhancing his recovery speed. The latter worked in unison with War, sharing its burden and fueling its pseudo cores.

"Now it makes sense." Lotho's eyes shone with envy at the sight of the artifacts. "They have changed again since the last time I saw them. It must be one of the benefits you enjoy from Salaark's friendship."

According to the rumors going around in the Awakened community, War was the gift of Faluel, Salaark, or both. The other two artifacts weren't as good but they confirmed Lith's claims about his ability to craft tools for studying Blade Magic.

"Indeed." Lith nodded, glad to use the Guardian to cover for the existence of his tower. "Her Creation Magic made my Forgemastery progress by leaps and bounds while my siblings helped in my crafts."

"Feel free to go to Phogia. They are waiting for you before completing the encirclement." Lotho sent Lith away before taking out his communication amulet.

He pressed the runes of all of his disciples at the same time in order to not have to repeat himself.