"What?" The two surviving Emperor Beasts said in unison as they witnessed the death of their comrade.
Less than a second had passed since the release of the anti-mana toxins yet Solus had already suffered dozens of blows and her body was covered in wounds.
Despite the shock, the assassin Emperor Beasts didn't slow down their attacks and focused on killing their mark as soon as possible to regain the nurical advantage.
'Sohow that Knight Guard killed Firgon with one blow. I can't afford to turn my back on him for long or I might end up dead next. I need to finish the Constable before he joins her!' They both thought.
A sudden thud drew their attention and saved the feline Emperor Beast's life.
The Knight Guard was at the end of his rope and had collapsed to the ground, producing the noise. The problem was that in his final monts, he had also picked Firgon's spear and thrown it with the considerable strength he had left.
The feline had just the ti to turn his body around, receiving the hit in his shoulder instead of his heart.
The combined assault of the two Emperor Beasts paused for a mont, all the ti Solus needed. She struck at the feline Emperor Beast while he was still reeling in from the blow, sending him flying like a ho run.
The Naga attacked her with his six weapons and poisoned-fanged mouth, but an erald barrier blocked them all.
"I'll let you into a secret. Artifacts are unaffected by all kinds of toxins." Solus said as the elental crystals surfaced on the Sage Staff for a second and unleashed a barrage of spells.
By the ti the feline Emperor Beast stood up and turned to face her again, the Naga had more holes in his body than a form of Swiss cheese. The female mage panted heavily, leaning on her staff to keep herself upright.
Solus had left only one elental crystal visible on the top of the Sage staff and had its light pulsate like a dying candle.
'Fuck! Firgon is dead, Jarnos is dead, and I'm badly hurt.' Light fusion was already nding the feline Emperor Beast's wounds but fixing his broken clavicle and ribs would leave him exhausted. 'If that staff has enough juice for another shot, I'm done.
'Even worse, Firgon's arrays are gone and that damn Constable is calling for reinforcents.'
Solus had taken her communication amulet out of her pocket dinsion and conjured a pillar of light to signal her position.
With no other choice left, the feline Emperor Beast Warped away.
'At least neither of them was Verhen and now that such a powerful Knight Guard is dead, the Royals will hesitate to send soone of that caliber after us. I count this as a win.'
"Finally!" Solus said when both the Eyes and Ears of nadion confird she and Lith were alone. "That was dangerous. If not for the autopsy revealing the toxins, this might have ended much differently."
"Indeed." Lith fixed his wounds while Solus expelled the anti-mana toxins from her system with Invigoration. "That stuff is dangerous even for an Awakened, if it takes him by surprise. My own fusion magic almost killed .
"If I weren't holding back to ensure that at least one of them escaped, I might have wounded myself so badly that I would have lost consciousness and beco unable to react to the death blow."
"The anti-mana toxin is actually easier for us to deal with." Solus nodded. "Sure, the Emperor Beasts outnumbered and without my fusion magic they had the physical advantage, but the toxins inflicted no pain and I could still move as I wanted."
"If I revealed the true power of my equipnt the Emperor Beasts would have figured out my identity but at least I wouldn't have died."
"And it gets worse." Lith used a mind link to share his experience with the new toxins with her.
"By my Mom! The anti-darkness and earth toxins are a threat as bad as the anti-healing toxins." Solus' eyes widened in shock.
'Not to intrude, but I'm right here and there's sothing I've waited sixteen years to tell you.' nadion chid in. 'I could never decide whether to find you using as an exclamation flattering or creepy, Solus.
'And you call mom now instead of "your maker". That was 100% creepy.'
"Not now, Mom!" Solus silenced her. "You are lucky earth fusion was focused solely on your shield-bearing arm, Lith, otherwise all your bones would have turned into stone and you would have beco helpless for the rest of the fight."
"Agreed." Lith nodded. "Where is our unwitting ally?"
Cloaking devices made it harder to register an energy signature but after fighting the feline Emperor Beast in close quarters, the Eyes had locked on him. The artifact couldn't sense him from a distance due to the cloaking ring but the sa didn't apply to his spells.
"He has opened a Warp Steps leading to the opposite side of Kophar's periphery." Solus replied. "I think he's checking no one is tailing him and probably inspecting his body for trackers with Invigoration. Going straight ho would be stupid."
"Especially considering that the Kingdom can track communication devices." Lith replied. "He can't make a call that might be intercepted. He knows Royal Constables are after his organization and important news can only be reported in person."
"The guy is thorough." Solus said. "He's casting life-sensing and array-detecting spells. If only he knew he's making our job easier."
With each spell the Emperor Beast cast, the Eyes could get a better read and pinpoint his position more precisely. Lith and Solus flew at high speed in the assassin's direction, stopping as soon as the Eyes detected his energy signature again.
"He is taking a roundabout route." Solus pointed south, southwest, then north, and after a brief pause, at the popular district of the city. "He has stopped. Maybe that's the headquarters."
"Only one way to find out." Lith and Solus flew in the direction of the last detected signal, stopping on the way to take a good look at every nocturnal bird they t.
They wouldn't underestimate their enemy and disregard potential lookouts in disguise.
'That's definitely the place.' Solus suddenly conjured a darkness spell that made her and Lith nigh-invisible in the night sky.
'How can you tell?' He asked.
'Because all the birds we've t so far were just birds whereas those perching around that building are all shapeshifted Emperor Beasts.' Solus replied while zooming in with the Eyes and sharing her vision with Lith.
He could see an old but well-maintained two-story house that looked normal until the Eyes of nadion revealed a complex structure of overlapping magical formations and the presence of multiple Emperor Beasts.
The mbers of the criminal organization always used cloaking rings on the outside but at ho, they felt safe and lowered their guard. Solus studied both the arrays and the Emperor Beasts, noticing that most of them were non-Awakened.
Only a few of them presented a mana flow.
'Interesting.' nadion took the information in as well. 'This explains a lot.'
'What do you an?' Lith asked.
'If they had truly uncovered the secret of Awakening, there would be no need for such a facility.' She replied.
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