Chapter 1850: Quiet Before the Storm (part 2) |
Elina answered Lith's question by wrapping her arms around him, Solus, and Trion, in a family embrace. Then, she started to shake uncontrollably and sob.
Seeing what kind of a monster Orpal had always been, learning the truth about Trion‘s death, and witnessing the carnage of the battle for Lutia had been too much for a simple farmer.
She had often seen the images of Lith's battles in his holograms, but she had never been in the eye of the storm before. Even during Night‘s first attack on the farm, no blood had been shed and Elina had always remained in the safety of her own house, surrounded by the Corps.
She tried to apologize to Lith for not having realized earlier who Orpal really was. To thank Solus for being the best daughter she could ask for. To tell Trion how sorry she was for him dying alone, far away from his family.
Yet only wails and gibberish came out of her mouth as the trauma sunk in her mind now that everything was over. Many more people cried and yelled in desperation, breaking the silence with grief.
Many people had died during the battle. Only a few were innocent bystanders, most of the corpses belonged to people who had fallen for Orpal's temptation and had become his servants.
Despite their foolish choice, they were still citizens of Lutia with a family and friends. Their loved ones knew nothing about the deals with the Undead Courts, only that the person they loved had been murdered in broad daylight.
"I can't believe this!“ Zesker, the Captain of the Queen's Corps who had replaced Locrias, said. “The Kingdom has invested a lot of time and resources, my people have fought and died, and for what?
"To protect a Divine Beast that not only has his personal army of beasts but also an invisible army of shadows?“ He pointed at the Demons of the Darkness and of the Fallen that still lingered on the battlefield.
He waved his arms at the houses whose roofs had been cracked or sent flying, the broken walls, and the people that still lay bleeding on the roads nearby the Heavenly Wolf Restaurant.
At those words, Elina cried harder and Lith‘s eyes flared with red and black mana. Yet his face remained a stone mask and his voice cold.
"First, I never asked you anything. I have a deal with the Royals and you your orders. No matter my nature, you had to follow them or quit the army." Lith said while looking down on Zesker.
"As for those people, maybe in the heat of the battle, you missed a few parts of the broadcast." A snap of his finger conjured a hologram that repeated the part where Orpal boasted about the number of Lutians among his followers and their attempts to murder everyone.
"I would gladly compensate those who suffered in this battle, if not for one thing. Before I became I mage, Lutia was but a small village of a few dozens of houses. It was thanks to me that Count Lark first and Marchioness Distar later invested in this cesspool.
“It was because of my achievements that the Corps was sent here, making the life of the merchants much easier and the trade routes safer. It was because of my products and my creations that people from all over the Kingdom came to Lutia.
"Yet how did they repay me?“ Lith projected the same holograms as before, adding more images depicting how the new citizens of Lutia had been treating his family before his relationship with Peonia.
"They blamed everything that was wrong in their lives on me and took it out on my family. They only stopped because in their cowardice they were afraid of the Royal family.
"At least until they betrayed the Kingdom and became Thralls. The people who died today attacked me and my mother so don't ask me to feel guilty about killing them. As for the damages, I‘ll gladly help those who have always been fair to me.
"The rest of them can rot for all I care!" Lith said, and outraged yells eclipsed the grieving cries as the bystanders cursed at him and his heartlessness.
Then tempers run high, and some of them found the courage to throw stones at the monster disguised as a human. Lith rose his forefinger stopping them in mid-air and his eyes lit up, emitting a pulse of killing intent.
Those who had thrown the rocks fell to their knees, gasping for air as the terror they felt made them forget how to breathe. Some of them lost control of their bladder, others of their sphincter, but most of them just fainted on the spot.
Those who didn't throw rocks just found themselves kneeling while all those who Lith called friends stood without understanding what was happening.
"Just because I don't flaunt my powers, just because I don't abuse my authority, it doesn't make me weak." Lith said to both the Captain and the bystanders. “I'm not a dog, I'm a wolf. If I have to rip a few throats out to remind you, so be it,"
Then, all the communications amulets of those presents lit up and a Royal Decree put an end to the quarrel.
Capitol of the Griffon Kingdom, City of Valeron, Royal Throne room.
"That son of a thief!“ King Meron slammed his fist on the armrest of his golden throne. “Tiamat is my friend my Royal ass! It was him all along. The one who stole the orc shaman’s crystal and took away Syrook's corpse."
The wide grin on his face and the enthusiasm in his voice didn‘t match at all with his words.
"Yes." Queen Sylpha nodded, as radiant as her husband. “He's also the one who beat Dawn once and Night twice now. Who would have thought that such a young runt would have turned out to be such a powerful Divine Beast?"
"I doubt he was bom one." Meron shook his head. "He was beaten many times as a kid and severely injured while at the academy. All things that are impossible even to a newborn Divine Beast.
"On top of that, I doubt that Marth, Vastor, or at least Manohar would have failed to notice it while they took care of him.
"Our best healers examined Lith after the sabotage of the dimensional hall, the fight against the Valor, and the quarantine after his escape from the Golden Griffon."
"Point taken." Sylpha steepled her fingers, drumming them in excitement. "The Verhens must have a dormant bloodline, just like yours. Yet his status as a true Awakened must have activated it at some point."
"Yes, mother.“ Peonia giggled like a little girl. "It means that our children will not only bear the might of a Tiamat, but they might also recover the power of the Griffons that our forefathers foolishly relinquished."
Royals and Emperor Beasts weren't so different. They both cared little about things like appearance and true nature. What mattered to them was to get their hands on powers that would be passed on to the new generations and that would be their exclusive.
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