Supreme Magus

Chapter 4455: Behind the Scenes (Part 1)

’I was right. This isn’t a rescue attempt. They wanted to kill the baron!’ Lith thought as a man stepped through the Warp Gate, a curse still escaping from his lips as he turned to face Lith.

The man wore a simple adventurer set comprised of grey pants, a white shirt, and a brown leather jerkin. His skin was as dark as ebon, and his eyes blazed with bright violet mana as he looked around for his prey.

’That guy is not from Verendi. He has shapeshifted to hide his true identity!’ Solus had never met the man before, but she had already faced someone with a similar life force. ’That guy is an Ishara. A Divine Beast species of the Rathi continent.’

The foreign man froze when he saw Lith, and his face twisted into a mask of confusion.

”You’re Lith Verhen!” He said as if Lith were the last person on Mogar he had expected to meet that day. ”We don’t need to fight. I’m-”

’One of the bastards who tried to kill Solus and now is messing with the Larks!’ Lith didn’t let the Ishara finish the phrase and met him with Ragnarök in his hand.

The man released the tier four spell meant to kill Carkas, but the thunderbolts wreathed in flames didn’t even scratch Lith’s barrier. With no time to unsheathe his weapon, the Ishara reverted to a humanoid-sized version of his true form.

His extended hand shapeshifted into a massive scorpion-like pincer, and a second set of arms emerged right below the first. The pincer grabbed the angry blade’s sides, but it would have failed to stop the attack if not for the secondary humanoid hand grabbing Lith’s wrist.

’I said stop! I don’t want to fight you, Verhen!’ The Ishara used the physical contact to establish a mind link.

’And I totally believe you.’ Lith’s thoughts were infused with so much sarcasm that the rest of Mogar was left dry. ’Jerak!’

He conjured the First Zero rune in his mind and pushed it through the mind link. The Ishara froze at its sight for a moment, giving Lith the opening he needed. The Cursed ice coating the Ishara’s limbs let the angry blade slip free of their hold and resume its attack.

Lith cut both arms off at the elbow and released a tier five Battle Mage Spell, Final Eclipse, from one of his spell-holding rings. A jet of darkness-infused violet flames hit the Ishara like a truck and sent him crashing through the east wall.

’Solus, keep the baron safe!’ Lith focused on his prey, determined to kill the Divine Beast before it could call for reinforcements or say anything that might force Lith to stay his hand.

’On it!’ Solus stored the fragments of the Ishara’s severed limbs before they could revert to their full size and squash Carkas like a bug.

Shapeshifting compressed a Divine Beast’s mass, allowing them to disguise themselves as members of any other race, but it didn’t change their nature. The room was too small to contain even one hand of an adult Divine Beast, and the baron would have been killed on the spot if not for Solus.

The Ishara cursed his bad luck and conjured a Spirit Barrier from his enchanted armor to stop the onslaught. The black flames not only pushed him back, robbing him of his footing, but they also blinded him to Lith’s movements.

The Tiamat lunged, activating the seven crystals on his blade and charging it with elemental power. Ragnarök sparked as it channeled the air element inside its Davross blade and punched a hole into the barrier.

The Ishara survived only because he had the time to pull out his ax and shield. The curved surface of the buckler deflected Ragnarök, while the Adamant ax exploited the pincer’s longer reach to fall on Lith’s wrist like a guillotine.

To ensure his victory, the Ishara also infused himself with Life Maelstrom, becoming ten times faster and stronger. Unfortunately for him, Lith knew what an Ishara could do and had used the cover of the Final Eclipse to draw a deep breath.

A jet-stream of Void Flames hit the Ishara like a punch to the gut and faded away upon hitting their target. The Life Maelstrom neutralized the black flames before they could harm the Ishara, but at the cost of its own power.

The silver lightning faded, returning the Ishara’s combat prowess to normal, whereas the Vital Storm coursing through Lith and further amplified by the Davross’ air element was unaffected by the Void Flames.

Lith flicked his wrist, turning the failed lunge into a descending diagonal slash. He was too fast for the Ishara to react, and the Davross of Ragnarök’s blade cut through the Divine Beast’s Adamant armor with ease.

Lith severed the Ishara’s head and right shoulder from his torso, and he also pierced the Divine Beast’s heart with an ice spike just to be safe. The Ishara died instantly, and Lith stored the corpse inside his pocket dimension.

’He will be evidence of the conspiracy, while his equipment will make some nice loot.’ He thought.

’It will also light a beacon on you.’ Solus warned him. ’Isharas don’t strike me as people who work alone. Their bloodline is dying, and they consider every member of their race irreplaceable.

’Even if that guy didn’t have a partner, now that his contact rune is gone, the other Isharas will come running.’

’At that point, I won’t be able to fight against multiple Divine Beasts alone and protect the baron at the same time.’ Lith completed the phrase for her as he ran to retrieve the unconscious figure of Carkas.

Solus had kept the baron safe, but the killing intent released by the battle between Awakened was too much for a simple country noble.

”I’m Supreme Magus Verhen, and I require immediate assistance.” He said in his communication amulet. ”I’ve just faced an unknown hostile Divine Beast, and there might be more converging on my position. I’m- Trace my position!”

The Ears spotted several Warp Steps opening in the baron’s private quarters, so Lith couldn’t afford to move slowly enough to be heard anymore. He grabbed the noble and left the same way he had entered the room, from the balcony.

’It will be much more difficult for them to surround us now that we have enough space of maneuver. I don’t intend to fight against multiple Divine Beasts if I can avoid it.’ A light pressure on his wrist guard activated a silent alarm.

Only a few people among those Lith trusted could hold their ground against such powerful opponents, but few were better than nothing.

Memories of the time a group of Awakened had joined their forces to kill Valeron the Second flashed in his mind and made Solus shudder. Back then, Lith had barely snatched victory from the jaws of defeat thanks to the baby boy’s Life Maelstrom.

Now he wasn’t facing Fae, humans, and Emperor Beasts. His enemies belonged to a race of Divine Beasts who could use both Life Maelstrom and Doom Tide, while he had neither.

Lith opened a Warp Steps that led dozens of kilometers away, but the dimensional corridor collapsed on itself before he could cross it.