Chapter 4319: No Maybe (part 1) |
"Enjoy your stay until the next time." Lith turned around and was about to walk away when he noticed that Solus hadn’t moved from her spot. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes." She nodded as she sifted through everything they had just learned and witnessed. "I’ve made up my mind about the Bleed, Lith. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to sacrifice these people for my convenience.
"They have already suffered too much for something they didn’t even do. I know what they were planning, but there’s no way to know whether they would have actually gone for it or they would have realized how foolish making an enemy out of us was.
"I can’t play judge, jury, and executioner based on a maybe. It’s wrong. Sacrificing these people might save my life in the future, but at the price of my soul. If I do this, I would be no better than Thrud or all those crazy bastards who kill innocents to Forgemaster a cursed object."
"You don’t have to explain yourself to me, Solus." Lith replied. "I know we are different people, and I would never ask you to ignore your conscience and poison your peace of mind for me.
"No treasure would be worth that, let alone these scumbags. Whatever comes next, we’ll face it together. Whatever happens, we’ll find a way to survive, like we always do."
"Thanks." She nodded, feeling a huge burden lifting from her chest. "You have no idea how much your words mean to me. Also, you didn’t let me finish."
Solus’ gaze steeled, and her hands closed into fists.
"I want that guy in the Bleed." She pointed at the Awakened that Lith had followed to the safe house. "There is no maybe with that bastard. He wanted to kidnap the children. He was willing to kill Dad.
"Burning his very life force to protect those he meant to hurt is the only fitting punishment for someone like him."
"Poetic justice, if you ask me." Lith nodded. "What about the others?"
"Kill them, please." She sighed. "But only if what they have confessed is the truth and they didn’t try to pull a fast one on us. Otherwise, feel free to leave them here to rot."
***
Lith and Solus spent the next few days following the leads they had received from their prisoners, increasing the number of inmates in the Pits of Agony quite a bit.
’We can’t afford to slack off. If we don’t take these bastards out ourselves and someone else does, we’ll have to Forgemaster more Blade Weapons.’ Lith thought.
’Yeah, I’d be fine if it were for someone like Malyshka or Fyrwal, but I don’t trust the Awakened Council farther than we can throw them.’ Solus replied. ’There’s no telling if they would use our Blade Weapons against us.
’I doubt they’d join the kidnappers’ side, but too many people covet Mom’s knowledge and your bloodline. I’m afraid that whenever our interests and those of our potential clients clash, they might use the weapon we gave them to tip the scales in their favor.’
’You know, you have to find some way to clarify when you refer to Mom or Ripha. You call my father Dad, so when you say Mom, I think of my mother and get utterly confused since she possesses no knowledge that might interest an Awakened.’ Lith said.
’Sorry.’ She chuckled.
’Not sorry.’ Menadion grunted. ’I have 700 years of seniority on Elina, so mom is my title.’
’Mom, this is a private conversation!’ Solus blushed as they prepared to ambush the last batch of potential kidnappers of which they were aware. ’Get out of our mind link.’
’Non a chance.’ She replied. ’I need to tell you that the other Sigil Demons are in position. We are waiting for your signal and a little extra juice to start the attack.’
’On my mark.’ Lith took a deep breath of Invigoration, infusing the Sigil Demons and his golems with the mana it produced. ’Mark!’ .
The combined attack of three Divine Beasts, five seven-eyed Demons, four bright-violet cored Awakened, and two golems toppled the defensive arrays of the underground facility like a house of cards.
Killing the Awakened would have been easy, but dead men didn’t fear Salaark’s Pits of Agony, nor could they be interrogated. Taking the prisoners alive before they could Warp away was hard, requiring swift action and flawless teamwork.
It was the reason Friya kept herself at a safe distance above the facility and with the Eyes of Menadion on her nose, ready to disrupt any dimensional spell.
Lith’s team caught the Awakened by surprise, and by the time they realized what was happening and who they were against, the Awakened had already been rendered unconscious and tied up like prime roast.
"This is it." Lith gave a nod to everyone for the job well done. "I’ll bring them to the Desert and let them stew for a while before interrogating them. Until that moment, you’re free to go back to your business."
"About that, remember my share of the equipment." Protector said. "It will take a lot of Adamant for a full set of armor for me, and every bit counts."
"Same, but take my share and deduct it from my debt." Tista sighed.
"What about our share?" Morok asked.
"If we don’t let my father Forgemaster the equipment for our kids, you’ll see a grown man cry." Quylla replied. "We have no need for small change."
"Maybe that’s true for you and me, but not for Ryla and Garrik." He pointed out. "Don’t forget that, aside from the books, the people of Zelex took all the treasures of my Tyrant bloodline.
"I don’t have much, and I don’t like having to beg Orion to take care of my little brother."
"You don’t need to beg my father!" Quylla blushed a bit. "Yet you are right. I don’t want to keep relying on my parents’ money for everything. Lith..."
"I got it." He groaned. "At this point, I’ll set aside Nalrond’s and Friya’s share as well."
"Thanks." The Agni sighed. "I have nothing aside from my share of your silver mines, and you can’t buy Adamant."
"I can’t believe that someone who owns a mage tower with its own, super-fast mine can be so stingy!" Friya said. "You should be the richest of us all, Lith."
"In a few centuries, maybe." He grunted. "Right now, I only have a bunch of useless silver, and I need two full suits of armor ready before my children become of age and lose the Guardians’ protection.
"The only silver lining is that Val is already covered. Thrud did one thing right in her life."
"So, you’re not having more children for at least fifteen years?" Protector asked in disbelief.
"We don’t talk about that." Lith stiffened. "I can only say we won’t have them for a while. At least until this twin curse is dispelled."
"Sounds like someone just jinxed himself for triplets!" Locrias laughed, making Lith’s wallet shudder at the idea.
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