Supreme Magus

"I couldn't see how Firgon died. My guess is he got cocky again and paid the price for it. Bird Emperor Beasts with their hollow bones should avoid close-quarter combat." Jika said while looking at Shasa who snorted to express his dissent.

"What about Jarnos?" Shasa retorted. "What about you, then? You are among the strongest of us yet you failed just like Firgon."

"The anti-mana toxin took the midget by surprise but she was incredibly strong and her armor was a masterpiece." Jika snarled. "Otherwise we would have killed her in a second. She would have died anyway, if not for that damn Knight Guard's swan song.

"The spear throw distracted me for a second and when I turned back, Jarnos was already dead. Either that Constable is another of those violet-cored Awakened who attacked us in the past or she might be an Emperor Beast like us.

"Every one of her hits was as heavy as yours, boss."

"Are you sure she wasn't Verhen?" The last remark alarmed Kugoh.
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"If it were him, then his abilities have been greatly exaggerated." Jika shrugged. "No flames, blood-crazed blade, Spirit Blinks, or shadow monsters popping out like mushrooms.

"I suspected it might have been all a ruse so I Warped several times and inspected my own shadow with Invigoration to check for invisible stowaways. I found nothing and so did our guards at the various checkpoints.

"Why turn into a woman and get himself beaten almost to a pulp for nothing? No, boss, I saw her eyes. That Constable was truly desperate when she lost her magic. It wasn't an act. Had the spear hit me a second later, she would have died."

"Thank the gods." Kugoh sighed in relief. "We have lost two Awakened but at least we have confirmed the identity of our enemy. We'll suspend business for a couple of days until we see how the Royals respond to our failed attempt to assassinate their investigators.

"You are dismissed, Jika. Get some rest. You've earned it."

"Forgive my impudence, boss, but I need to ask." Jika was so enraged that his aura made the small items in the room tremble. "When will we get an Awakened master? If only Firgon, Jarnos, and I knew Spirit Magic, we could have Blinked despite our dimensional-sealing array.

"If we had the violet core, a Knight Guard and a Constable would have been nothing. Everything went south only because aside from our physical abilities Awakening changed nothing. Body refining isn't enough to deal with the Kingdom's elite."

"Why do you think we are still here?" Kugoh stood up, his face a mask of indignance. "Rogue Awakened like us have no chance to be taken in as apprentices unless they have something to offer to their potential master or amazing talent.

"We clearly lack talent, or we would have self-Awakened decades ago and wouldn't be forced to rely on Hatorne's parasites. Our only chance is to establish a profitable business and exchange it for one apprenticeship.

"Awakened too need money and they don't care about how they got the gold, only how much it is." Actually, that wasn't true.

Most Council Elders steered away from crime because the payoff wasn't worth the risk. Yet Kugoh knew that younger Elders with no bloodline legacy to back them weren't so picky.

"I understand." Jika gave his leader a bow and left the room.

"Idiot." Shasa shook his head the moment he and Kugoh were alone. "By the way, boss, can we afford to suspend business? Two days isn't long, but we have little money left."

The research cost lots of money and so did buying the equipment for the assassin squads the organization put at the nobles' disposal for hire. Most of what the Emperor Beasts earned was invested straight away.

The silver lining was that the more of them Awakened the stronger the organization became and the more money it made. Powerful equipment ensured the success of their most lucrative business and allowed the Beasts to remove any obstacle on their way.

It was only a matter of time until that virtuous cycle earned them enough money to catch the attention of a greedy Council Elder.

"You heard him." Kugoh sighed. "The Constable survived and by studying the corpse of the Knight Guard, the Healers will recognize the effects of Hatorne's toxins. Too many of our secrets have been exposed in the last two days.

"The Royals now know we are Emperor Beasts and that we have access to Hatorne's legacy. We've just gone from a small dirt spot on a map to a threat to their power. We need to lay low for a while and observe how the situation develops.

"As long as our position isn't exposed, we have enough dimensional amulets to store everything and relocate at a moment's notice. There are plenty of cities we can take over but to do that, we must be alive."

***

While the Emperor Beasts went into hiding, the Kingdom amassed its forces for the hunt. Lith and Solus spent the next few hours resting and eating. The fight with the assassins had taken its toll on their bodies and they wanted to be at their peak during the assault.

"Is everything alright in Lutia, Kami?" Lith asked while he finished his preparations.

"Yes." She nodded. "Faluel confirmed that the details of your mission are still a secret but rumors of your absence have spread far and wide. If Meln is planning to make his move, he must be here already."

"And if he strikes, he'll do it in the next few hours. Alert everyone and keep the children safe, Kami." Lith replied.

"How can you be so sure?" She asked.

"Because I have no need to continue hiding my presence for much longer." Lith said. "The moment Meln confirms I'm in Kophar, he'll feel confident enough to attack. I'm going to make a ruckus big enough not to leave any doubt about my identity."

"Be careful and watch out for those toxins." Kamila said.

"I will. Kami…" Lith opened his mouth but nothing came out.

On the one hand, he wanted to keep her safe and the idea of pushing her in Meln's hands made Lith want to puke. On the other hand, there was no other way to get rid of his mad brother once and for all.

"I love you." He said after a while.

"I love you more." She showed him her scaled hands to reassure him. "Don't worry, whether Meln attacks or not, you'll find us waiting for you at home. Good luck."

Kamila's hologram had just faded when someone knocked on Lith's door.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but we're ready." Yerna's voice said. "Everyone is waiting for you."

"I'm ready too. What's the plan?" Lith walked through the door while wearing his Knight Guard equipment.

Against so many true mages and Awakened, going all-out from the start would have meant exposing his best cards and losing the element of surprise. The mission involved killing the Emperor Beasts, destroying the toxins, and rescuing the hostages, in that order.

Saving people had the lowest priority because it was enough for a single Emperor Beast who knew how to breed the parasites and synthesize the toxins to make the mission fail.