2264 Burn it Down (Part 2)
Phogia fell so quickly that it didn't seem real to either side of the war.
"Great Mother protect us." King Meron said while scratching his red beard in shock. "I always knew that Verhen had the power of a Magus way before turning into a Divine Beast, but this? This is too much!
"How the heck are you supposed to stop that?"
Queen Sylpha held his hand tight, trying to calm him down. She was afraid that the stress might make his health worsen.
"Does anyone know about something called the Black Throne?" She asked the member of the Awakened Council who coordinated the attack from there.
Lotho was still in Zeska, Inxialot was protecting Lith's family in Lutia, and Raagu was just entering Phogia.
"I've heard about it, but it's just a legend." Feela the Behemoth couldn't muster enough focus to look away from the hologram, her eyes filled with a mix of awe and horror.
"We'll talk about this later, then." Sylpha remembered well Tyris' warning and suddenly she felt the need to find something that could match the power of their Supreme Magus or at least keep him from obtaining whatever the Black Throne was.
Meanwhile, in the Throne Room of the Golden Griffon, Thrud didn't share their worries one bit.
"Retreat now and prepare to join your brethren at Verhen's next stop. Phogia has fallen and there's no point in delaying the inevitable." The moment the two Divine Beasts Warped away, the Mad Queen burst into excited laughter.
For the first time since Jormun's death, her eyes shed tears of joy instead of pain, and her body brimmed with adrenaline.
"With all due respect, Your Majesty, are you feeling well?" Sevenus Hystar, the Headmaster of the Golden Griffon, was afraid that Lith's display of power had caused Thrud more despair than her cracked mind could take.
Hystar feared that once her descent into madness was complete, there would be no one carrying the torch of Arthan's dream. Valeron the Second would need at least two decades before becoming strong enough to replace his mother and none of the Generals could command the Golden Griffon.
Without her, there was no war, only a slow and agonizing defeat.
"No, Hystar, I don't feel well. I feel amazing!" Thrud conjured three glasses of wine and made a toast to Phogia's fall.
Phloria and Hystar were the only ones allowed into Thrud's private quarters and the only ones who knew about Lith's tower. They despised each other greatly but their loyalty to the Mad Queen was identical.
They exchanged a worried look before asking:
"What do you mean, amazing? You should be angry, My Queen." Phloria actually was as happy as Thrud, but to her enslaved persona those feelings only caused more worry. "You have just lost two cities in the span of a few hours."
"Oh no, dear. You misunderstand me." Thrud shook her head, realizing the source of their bewilderment. "I was angry before, when I thought that a miserable runt had killed my husband.
"The idea that an insignificant weakling had taken my Jormun away from me made me furious, but this changes everything." She had the Golden Griffon replay the highlights of the sieges.
"He has outsmarted us and overpowered my forces. That's someone I can acknowledge as worthy of defeating my husband. Mind you, it's still an unforgivable crime but at least now my mind is at ease.
"Jormun was felled by a worthy opponent, someone who once I'm done with the Royals, will join you at my service." Thrud's words reassured Phloria, the Mad Queen hadn't forgotten about her promise.
"Someone who in case of my defeat, will take care of my child. Losing two cities is a grave matter, yet the way it happened gives me more reasons to rejoice than to worry."
Meanwhile, outside Phogia, Lith didn't bother entering the captured city this time either. The moment his help was no longer needed, he dispelled the Demons and recalled the Golems to his side.
He kept standing above the geyser, using the flow of world energy to quickly recover his strength and recharge the power cores of the constructs and of his equipment. He hadn't used Invigoration at all to capture Phogia, but his life force was strained from the effort.
Using so many Demons, Blade Magic, and several Tower Tier Spirit spells had brought him on the verge of mana abuse. Only time could relieve the strain on his core and life force, but thanks to the tower it wouldn't take long.
'How long, exactly?' The city still had to be fully purged of Thrud's forces yet Lith couldn't wait to leave and move on to the next target.
'More than a few seconds, dammit. Cool your jets.' Solus said while studying his condition to estimate how much rest he needed. 'There's no point reaching another city if there's no one to capture it.
'In our plan, our role is that of a battering ram. We open the gates and leave the rest to the Royals and the Council. If we just leave, Thrud would take the cities back in a jiffy and all our effort would be for nothing.'
'You are right and I'm wrong. I'm sorry.' Lith took a series of deep breaths to calm down. 'I need time to recover and you to overcharge the tower. Unless we both are at the peak of our game, none of my plans can work.'
Even though the tower couldn't take form, Lith could still access the powers of its floors as long as he had the necessary energy to fuel them. He activated the Watchtower, spreading the effects of his breathing technique for kilometers.
After he was certain that there was no enemy hiding in the vicinities nor any magical resource he could apply to exploit, Lith sat on the ground and took lots of food out of his pocket dimension.
Mana was still energy and it couldn't be created out of thin air. Lith needed food to repair his body and to provide his mana core with the nutrients it required to fuel its abilities.
"That was damn impressing." Raagu walked up to him, her surprise growing stronger as she noticed how good his condition was. "Such a magnificent display of power and you haven't even broken a sweat.
"How did you do that?"
"The mana geyser." Lith stopped eating for a second to point down with his fork. "I used it along with Invigoration to overcharge my body with mana and my equipment with world energy.
"My Blade Spell allows me to draw in the outside energy and refill the power cores the moment they get depleted. The problem is that usually the world energy is too thin to make a difference."
"Brilliant." Raagu nodded, falling for his lie hook, line, and sinker.
The human representative had no idea how a Blade Spell worked, especially when employed by a Divine Beast. The offspring of the Guardians were considered creatures who defied common logic and Lith was no exception.
On top of that, no one had a clue about the Tiamat bloodline's abilities. Lith was exploiting his unknown bloodline and unique origin to cover up for the tower.
