"Non-Awakened Emperor Beasts are not that strong and there's not enough of them willing to commit cris for a living to beat the undead at their own ga." Zoreth said.
'Whereas Vastor's Organization has few elents but each one of them has the power to raze the local Undead Courts to the ground.' Lith thought.
"What's changed? Why now?" He actually asked.
"The answer to your question is simple. It's because of the War of the Griffons." Zoreth replied. "The Undead Courts foolishly allied themselves with Thrud, losing power, influence, and many of their most powerful mbers in the process.
"Yet that alone wouldn't have been enough. They were still rebuilding their criminal empire when Poopie announced his return."
"What does ln have to do with this?" Solus asked.
"Don't you rember his threat to kill those who betrayed him, starting with the Undead Courts? Didn't you find the upper echelons of the Courts hiding sowhere, preparing for the fight of their lives?" Zoreth replied.
"You are right!" Lith said. "The undead have abandoned their territories where they would have been vulnerable and built underground fortresses to deal with ln."
"Creating a power vacuum that the Emperor Beasts you're dealing with filled." Zoreth nodded. "The birth of this criminal organization was made possible by the total lack of opposition.
"Without the undead to protect them, human cri lords are nothing but lambs to the slaughter for Emperor Beasts."
"A power vacuum?" Solus echoed in confusion. "What about you, I an, your Organization? Why didn't you guys step in and take over?"
"Solus, Abominations are much rarer than Awakened. There are even fewer Abominations trustworthy enough to be invited into the Organization and not all of them accepted our invitation or proved reliable.
"There's only so many of us and we prefer to have a strong hold on a few cities than spread our forces thin and risk being wiped out at the first hiccup in our operations." Zoreth glossed over the part about how most of the Organization's focus had been shifted to Jiera.
There was only so much ti before the colonization efforts reached the mines currently occupied by the Organization, and when that happened, the Eldritches would lack the ans to keep control over them.
They were attacking the largest and most abundant veins of enchanted resources, taking away everything they could as fast and safely as they could.
'I'm sorry, Lil Bro. I would love to tell you the truth but the less you know, the longer we can stay friends. I don't want to fight you, but if our interests don't align, I will have to.' Zoreth inwardly sighed.
"I see." Lith pondered. "Between the War of the Griffons and ln, these Emperor Beasts found a table already set and with the food served. They only had to sit down and eat since no one could stop them. Thanks, Zor. Lith ou-"
"Wait." She stopped him before he could hang up the call. "There's still sothing that doesn't add up in your story."
"Which is?" Solus asked.
"Emperor Beasts have true magic like us Abominations and a physical body like humans." Zoreth replied. "What point is there practicing alchemy for them? Also, if they want money, there are quicker and easier ways to get it.
"Like robbing the human cri lords blind after letting them do all the job. I an, why bother building an organization when you can just reap the profits? Also, it's not like criminals can report you to the authorities. It's the perfect cri."
"That's… true." Lith's eyes widened at the realization. "Out of curiosity, how did you think about this?"
"Oh, I didn't think, I did it back when I was still human." Zoreth scratched her head in embarrassnt. "It's the best way for a rogue Awakened to score easy coins. The problem is that money only brings you so far and if you get greedy, the Undead Courts hunt you down.
"Or at least they did back then. Now is a no-man's land, I guess."
"Thanks, Zor. You've helped us more than you think." Solus said.
"I did?" The Shadow Dragon asked in puzzlent. "How?"
"I'm sorry, we got to go." Solus pretended not to have heard the question. "We have to call ho or our family will skin us alive. Bye!"
She hung up the call and explained her theory to Lith via a mind link before Elina picked up her amulet.
'Think about it.' She said. 'There's only one possible explanation for the Emperor Beast going to such lengths learning Alchemy. They must have gotten their hands on Hatorne's recipes.
'One of them must have dug through the rubble like Nalrond would, looking for easy coins, and found the recipes. Then he brought them to soone to sell them and that soone understood the hidden value of Hatorne's research.'
'The parasites?' Lith failed to see her point. 'They are no threat to an Awakened or a true mage. All you need is darkness fusion to- The anti-mana parasites! Fuck sideways, I had almost forgotten about them.'
'Exactly.' Solus nodded. 'They are not a threat to people like us, but only because we are Awakened. Not only does the anti-mana toxin make an excellent weapon, but it also unlocks a thod that allows anyone to Awaken safely.'
'That's why the Emperor Beasts have established their organization here.' Lith said. 'It's close enough to Xenatos to transport whatever is left of Hatorne's lab without anyone noticing and this region produces all the materials the Emperor Beasts need for their research.'
'I feel we are still missing sothing, though.' Solus said. 'As Zoreth said, the beasts could just steal the money. Creating a criminal organization entails the risk of being discovered and drawing the Kingdom's attention.
'No matter how careful the beasts are, their human allies are their weak link. It's how the Constables noticed the tattoos and the Royals realized soone had unearthed Hatorne's work. Humans aren't so loyal that they take their lives when captured.'
Lith would have liked to ponder the matter, but Elina had just answered the call and he had to hold those thoughts for later.
***
Sowhere in Kophar, at the sa ti.
"Boss, I'm back." The wizened old man slamd the door open again, drawing a furious glare from the ordinary-looking man sitting behind the desk.
"Gods below, Shasa! Just because we have evolved from animals doesn't an you can't learn proper manners!" Anger turned the man's voice into a leopard's wet growl and his teeth into pointy fangs. "Can't you open a door like a civilized creature?
"Mine is enchanted and self-repairs but the other doors of the base don't. Do you have any idea how much money I've spent so far just to fix everything you break every single day? That's all money that should have gone into our research!"
"I'm sorry, Kugoh." The old man lowered his head in embarrassnt. "I'm not used to this pathetic body, much less to how frail everything is. I barely touch sothing and it snaps."
"Never mind." The younger man groaned in exasperation. "What have you discovered about the raid at the Roaring Lion?"
Shasa gave the leader a detailed report of the events that had played out just an hour earlier.
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