2320 One Step (Part 2)

"As long as you remember me, a part of me will always live inside of you and a part of you will always be with me." Phloria said.

"No." Lith shook his head. "I've gone through this already and I know how it ends. The moment you die, that part of me will die with you. Forever."

"Thank you for being here with me in my final moments." Phloria cupped his face again. "I'm glad that you've been my first boyfriend and, in a way, also the last. Goodbye, my beloved master."

She chuckled at the 100-year servitude the Council had imposed on her and then she kissed him.

It was merely a peck, but it conveyed all the feelings she still felt and the warmth of her soul.

Her body faded away, starting from the feet, leaving the lips for last.

Leaving Lith alone.

The Void stood beside him, bearing the same appearance that Derek McCoy had in life. Only the pitch-black skin and the white eyes betrayed his undead state.

The Void gently clenched Lith's shoulder in a caress, yet his face seemed made of stone and his gaze was cold. Lith was still weeping Phloria's loss whereas the Void was shedding no tear.

Quite the contrary, the edges of his mouth were twisted upwards in a cruel and savage smile.

'Don't you dare blame Phloria for her own death!' Lith knew that it was all happening inside the Mindscape and that the Void was just a part of himself, yet he hated the Void nonetheless.

'Don't you dare to say things like she was too weak and deserved to die or I swear on Carl's name-'

'I won't do anything like that.' The Void cut him short, his voice deep and guttural like wind wailing through an abyss. 'Nor will I try to take over your body or blame you for our failure. I've grown past that. We have grown past that.

'Know that you've done everything I would. Even in hindsight, there's nothing I can blame you for.'

'Then what are you smiling about? If you have no snarky remark to make, why the fuck are you laughing?' Lith replied in outrage.

'Because Phloria didn't die. She was murdered. She was taken away from us and it wasn't our fault.' The Void clenched his teeth in a furious snarl, his eyes flaring with Decay. 'We know who's responsible and we can make Thrud pay.'

Lith remained stunned for a second. Then, his grief started to turn into rage.

Slowly at first but quicker by the second, like a snowball thrown from a mountain peak turning into an avalanche.

'I promised myself I would never again lose someone I love, yet I failed.' Lith now was gritting his teeth, his eyes white in a mirror image of the Void. 'I can't bring the dead back, but I can at least avenge them.'

'Indeed.' The Void nodded. 'I was smiling because this is no different from Carl's demise. The situation is terrible, but it's something we've already dealt with in the past. I was smiling because we know what to do.'

Images from Tyris' and Baba Yaga's speech flooded Lith's mind, reminding him about how dangerous was the path onto which Thrud was pushing him. Then, he remembered about Solus' first meeting with Mogar.

'If Thrud wants the Destroyer, I'll give it to her. If Mogar wants a Lord of Destruction, so be it!'

As an answer to his fury, clouds started to gather and the ground to shake with growing intensity.

***

The area around the Golden Griffon, a few seconds before.

"Dammit, where the heck did Phloria take Verhen?" Iata the Sekhmet was scouring the land in search of the two fighters. "Things should be wrapping up in-"

An inhuman wail of pain caught her attention and that of the Divine Beasts accompanying her.

"There we go. Remember the plan. Quick and efficient. No banter, no bravado. We kill him and take the body to the Golden Griffon, are we clear?" She asked.

"Crystal." The others nodded in unison, with one exception.

Ufyl, the Seven Headed Dragon, couldn't hide the disgust and shame he felt on any of his many faces. He had been Phloria's partner for most of her brief career as Thrud's General and had grown attached to her.

"Man, the True Queen is a damn genius." Xondar the Garuda said with a laugh. "She knows how strong Verhen is in the mind and body so she struck him in his only weak spot, the heart."

"Indeed." Ophius the Quetzalcoatl nodded. "The only things he cares about are his friends and family. We already know how weak he gets when one of them gets hurt. Like when his father was kidnapped or his mother attacked.

"It's only in moments like that that he makes huge mistakes. Now that he's grieving, it's the perfect opportunity to take him out."

"Was it really necessary?" Ufyl felt like he wanted to puke. He failed to recognize the people he called siblings in those heartless monsters. "Phloria was a great general and a mage capable of using Blade Magic.

"Killing her like that was a fucking waste of talent."

"You are right, Ufyl, but it was necessary." Iata patted his scaly back, feeling his grief. "She didn't share our cause and we had no way to keep her in our ranks. Verhen, Fyrwal, or Tessa would have sooner or later rescued her.

"Then imagine what would have happened once Phloria joined the When All Are One array as well. Imagine the destructive power she would have contributed to unleashing against our Queen. I'm sorry for Phloria, but killing her was the right thing to do.

"She was too powerful a weapon to let her fall into the enemy's hands. Especially after the Queen had personally trained her and shared so many of our secrets with her."

"Phloria isn't a weapon! She is- was a person! A good person! She was my friend." Ufyl's rage flared up and then sadness overpowered it once he was forced to accept that Phloria was dead.

"I know and I'm sorry for your loss." Iata glared at Ophius and Xondar who were sniggering at the Dragon. "Sadly, in war sacrifices are necessary. We are soldiers, Ufyl, and we have our orders. Can I count on you?"

"Yes, you can." Ufyl threw a mean look at his other companions and said nothing else as they descended to the ground.

Finding Lith was easy, all they had to do was to follow the wails and sobs. That and the shaking trees and the quaking ground.

The Divine Beasts shapeshifted into their human forms and combined their bloodline abilities. Iata infused them all with Life Maelstrom while Ophius used the Mana Aura ability to share his Mana Body with the others.

'Let's be quick and surgical.' Iata said via a mind link while making the group stop at a safe distance that would prevent Lith's sense from perceiving their arrival. 'You know the plan. Who wants to deal the killing blow?'

Ufyl couldn't take his eyes off Phloria's shrouded corpse, sending only white noise in reply.

'I'll do it.' Xondar the Garuda said.