Lith stood in the middle of the crowd, without saying anything to refute their slander or explain his actions.
'I'll let them say their piece and leave the mont things get physical.' He thought. 'I owe them that much.'
"Lith is innocent." Those three preposterous words silenced the mob like a sudden Hush spell.
Rizel stepped forward, needing Faluel's help to stand. There was no visible wound on his body, but he moved like a man carrying the weight of Mogar on his shoulders.
"ln Narchat didn't co to Lutia for him. He didn't bring all this chaos and destruction upon us to hurt Lith. ln Narchat ca for . I'm the only one you have to bla.
"This is all my fault." Rizel clenched his hands hard, holding small pieces of worn-out fabric that were all he had left of his parents.
"Why would he do that?" Much to everyone's surprise, Lith was the one who asked the question.
The Lutians still hated his guts, finding it more plausible that the attack on Lutia was just another of the Dead King's ploys to hurt his hated brother, but they nodded in agreent.
"Because I'm the one who betrayed ln first." Warm tears streaked down Rizel's face, yet his voice remained steady. "I'm the reason your family disowned your brother, Lith. Isn't it obvious?"
Before Lith could stop him, Rizel recounted the events of the day when he had agreed to help Orpal teach a lesson to his younger brother. Rizel skipped the details of the beating he had suffered from Lith, moving straight to his confession to his father first and then to the village chief.
"Now I'm like ln." Rizel burst into a deranged, mirthless laughter. "I have no family, and everyone hates . We're two peas in a pod."
The crowd turned on him with the speed and violence of a tide. They spat, cursed, and punched at him, but Rizel took it all without trying to defend himself. He was in too much pain to care and welcod death with open arms.
"Enough!" Faluel, however, was of a different opinion and shielded him with a Spirit Barrier. "How can you bla this man for the actions of a raving lunatic? Don't you understand that you're doing exactly what the Dead King wants?"
The crowd stopped, but not because they had seen reason. Sothing had frozen them on the spot, keeping them from moving a single finger.
"She's right." Raagu shook her head. "This is no one but ln Narchat's fault. Today, he attacked the Griffon Kingdom and the Blood Desert to further his plans of conquest. Countless people died all across Garlen for his madness."
She spoke to the Lutians, but also to herself.
"Even if you kill this Rizel guy, nothing will change. The dead will stay dead, and the Dead King will return to Lutia anyway. He will not stop until we all grovel to his feet or soone puts him down like the rabid dog he is."
Raagu dispelled her magical formation, letting go of the Lutians. They stared at her, Lith, and Rizel with eyes full of pain, desperately needing soone to bla for their misfortune.
***
Jiera continent, ruined city of Tle'ket, at the sa ti.
It was still night in Lutia, but the sun was already high in the sky in Jiera. Orpal felt Night's powers fade as the abundant light elent replaced the darkness flooding her crystal, yet he could not stop smiling.
"The mission in Lutia was a complete success." He said. "I killed those I wanted to kill, I destroyed everything that really mattered, and those pompous fools of the Awakened Council failed to stop .
"Heck, if not for those Fire Dragons, I could have taken my ti and killed three Council representatives here and there. The only sour note is that I have no idea where to find Lukah, but that's a minor inconvenience in the great sche of things."
'How can he be so proud of devastating a helpless city and killing ants?' Jorl thought, making sure that his face showed nothing of the spite he felt for his so-called leader. 'I would get it if he conquered the city of Valeron, but Lutia?
'There was no wall or array to protect it. It was like an adult bullying a baby. As for his victims, murdering two farrs in cold blood is hardly a praiseworthy feat even for a fake Divine Beast.'
"I'm sorry, boss, but what's this place? What happened to Talgor?" A Upyr asked in confusion.
"This is our new fortress." Under normal circumstances, Orpal would have harshly reprimanded his subject for his stupidity, but he was in too good a mood for that. "When launching a full-scale attack, you must always consider the eventuality that so of us might be taken prisoners.
"I couldn't afford the risk that one of your fellow Upyrs might reveal our position, and the Awakened Council sent their army to kill us all. That's why the Ho Stones led us to the middle of nowhere, and I told no one about this place but Salanoth.
"He and Uragar took care of moving everything to a new location while we were on the mission. After we escaped, I brought only those who reached the rallying point in ti here with my mage tower, ensuring that no one could follow us."
"Smart move, boss." The Upyr actually wanted to curse at Orpal for his lack of trust and leaving only the gods knew how many of his comrades stranded in Garlen.
Yet he knew that angering the Dead King would have earned him nothing at best and death at worst.
"I know, but thank you for noticing." Orpal grinned. "Now, what's the status on the other units, Erion? How much did we bleed that revolting fatso?"
"If you an Zogar Vastor, I have no clue." The Jormungandr had not taken part in the raids to not blow his cover and keep his privileged access to the Awakened Council channel.
The Dead King had entrusted Erion to keep an eye on the various ten-man Upyr units and warn them when Council troops moved toward their position. Also, he was in charge of accounting for casualties and Upyrs gone missing in action.
"What do you an, no clue?" Orpal furrowed his brows in confusion. "What about the Council reports, interlink news, and the army updates? More importantly, what about our own returning troops?"
"That's the issue. No one ca back from Essagor alive." Erion's answer made Orpal's eyes widen and Jorl smirk. "There is no Council report because no Awakened intervened on the scene.
"By the ti the local lords arrived, the situation was already resolved."
"I could understand if sothing like this happened to Verlam. All regional capitals are fortresses filled to the brim with elite troops, and that's where the old fart lives. But an entire region?
"How could not a single Upyr survive Essagor?" The Dead King growled, his good mood already gone and forgotten.
"I don't have an answer to that." Erion shrugged. "All the army updates and the interlink ntion a black shadow, though. According to the witnesses, it descended from the sky, killed our Upyrs, and disappeared before anyone could see anything."
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