Supreme Magus

Lith's plan was to quickly open and close a Spirit Warp to maim the Golden Griffon. It was a plan as good as it was predictable.

'Fuck me sideways!' He could recognize the familiar feeling of the Static Field array.

It kept the space around the lost academy compressed and negated the effects of dimensional magic unless one could afford as much mana as that poured in Static Field.

'This is really bad. Solus has no quick way to retreat and I can't get inside the Golden Griffon even if I manage to peek at useful dimensional coordinates. Hystar has thought of everything.'

Lith kept using pairs of Cursed Flames from his mouth and wings, trying them all and hoping to find one against which the Golden Griffon was weak.

He found none and soon his life force started to hurt from exertion.

Cursed Flames had a destructive power and speed on par with Cursed Elements but what the Tiamat could produce was so small compared to the titan that the damage dealt was irrelevant.

Or better, the small holes would have piled up into a crippling wound if not for the Golden Griffon self-repair mechanism. Even if Lith managed to always hit the same spot, it wouldn't have been fast enough.

Lith hit the leg with Double Edge, but it felt like he was a regular man trying to cut down a boulder. Zoreth was stronger than him and her Sky Piercer claws were imbued with the power of Chaos but she wasn't faring any better.

Her blows cut as deep as they could, but for something that size it was but a scratch. A scratch that healed.

"Oh my! You are an impressive little bunch. Let's kick things up a notch." The fact that Hystar kept laughing didn't bode well.

Then, when the plates of Golden Griffon's armor opened, everything became clear.

The academy unleashed a volley of Tower Tier Spirit spells that exploded in unison. Their firepower and wide area of effect made them impossible to dodge without dimensional magic.

Bytra was the fastest, but even she couldn't outrun the energy shockwave. She and Solus were blown out of the sky and crashed on the ground, opening a meters-deep crater.

Lith managed to survive only because he had kept himself at a distance, alternating Cursed Flames and Spirit Spells.

Zoreth, instead, took the full brunt of the damage.

Once the dust settled, the biggest piece of her left was the size of a car. Her troll core kicked in, using tendrils of flesh to reconnect what was left of her body and rebuild it from scratch.

Trolls had no flashy powers but they could survive as long as a single piece of their body remained.

In the blink of an eye, the Shadow Dragon was back. Smaller, thinner, and starving, but back nonetheless.

"I hunger!" Zoreth roared as she plunged her maw and claws deep inside the Golden Griffon.

This time, however, she didn't let go and consumed both matter and energy.

Her Eldritch side feasted upon both while her troll side converted the acquired energy into matter, returning Zoreth to her original size.

"No dine and dash, child. You are going to pay for what you ate." Hystar said as golden tendrils came out of his leg and seeped inside Zoreth's body. "I learned from our previous encounters that you Eldritch-monster hybrids are born out of Arthan's genius.

"As every one of his creations, you are bound to serve his will."

'Get away!' Lith yelled telepathically at Zoreth, Solus, and Bytra. 'They found a way to extend the Unwavering Loyalty array outside the academy. If you get caught-'

Zoreth cut him short with a roar, her eyes turning golden and staring at him in hatred.

'What the heck? It takes hours to enslave someone, not seconds!'

'I'm different. We are different.' Zoreth replied. 'Dad made us susceptible to the slave array on purpose in order to control us. I don't know how long can I resist. I beg of you, little brother, run!'

Lith was torn between the survival instinct and the feeling of guilt. After Phloria, now Zoreth had fallen into Thrud's hands as well and it was all his fault.

"You know, little Horseman, I was really annoyed when the enemy soldiers gave you the nickname of Golden Knight and chanted your name on the battlefield because that's my call sign." Hystar was getting back to his feet, his voice confident of his victory.

"I would love to stay here and have a rematch with you. It would prove who's the best cursed artifact and who between us truly deserves the name of Golden Knight. Alas, duty calls so I have to find a replacement."

More tendrils of golden energy erupted from the academy's foot, moving toward the still-stunned Bytra and Solus. The shockwave had inflicted upon them little damage whereas crashing against the ground at slightly subsonic speed had given them a concussion.

"Since during your previous visit you've taken away someone from me, it's only fair that I return the favor!"

'Bytra, no!' Solus attempted to Blink them both away but the Static Field array made her spell fizzle.

The energy tendrils reached the Raiju and wrapped around her, painting her eyes golden.

'For the gods' sake, Elphyn, run!' Bytra's body writhed in pain as she gave everything she had to resist the Unwavering Loyalty array. 'I don't want to hurt you. Not again!'

She neighed in despair, unleashing a burst of Chaos inside her body to stop the slave array but she only managed to slow down the inevitable.

'I can't leave you here. We still can-' The Absolution pulled Solus toward Bytra's horn so hard that she had to let the hammer go.

The mystical weapon didn't slow down as it approached its true owner. The Absolution reached the Raiju's muzzle and fused with it. The hilt turned into a protective headpiece while the metal head merged with the main horn of the Raiju.

Solus froze in terror as the thing of her nightmares had just become coated in Davross and hundreds of times deadlier. Bytra had just turned into the living embodiment of Solus' worst fears.

White bolts of lightning crackled around the Raiju who emitted a killing intent so thick that it made it hard for Solus to breathe. The front hoof rasped the ground in fury as the thick muscles of the legs prepared to charge. 

"Fuck. What do we do?" Theseus asked while keeping an eye on the golden tendrils and trying to figure out their reach.

"We stay put." Nandi replied. "If we step in, we become more fodder for the slave array. I have several plans, but right now none of them has a decent chance of success. You?"

"Same. Neither of us can outspeed Bytra and Xenagrosh is too strong. There's no way to pull them out fast enough to not become slaves ourselves. On top of that, even if we did, there's the possibility that the Golden Griffon would keep controlling them.

"Even a single hybrid switching sides would be enough to compromise all of our operations, the Master's identity, and the fate of the war. We have to tread lightly." 

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