Supreme Magus

Chapter 1099 Mourning the Dead Part 1

”Do you really need to show off so much?” Brina giggled while sweeping her golden hair behind the ear and exposing her slender neck. ”Everyone knows that youʼre with the Verhens, thatʼs just overkill.”

She tapped on the insignia on his shoulder, making Nalrond inwardly curse at Rena again and at himself for his naivety. Communication amulets were common tools in any tribe of Werepeople, but in the rest of Mogar, they were the mark of big money.

”Itʼs not about showing off.” Even though his skin was bronze, Nalrond managed to blush.

”I left the Blood Desert after the death of my whole village. Iʼll never forget seeing their runes disappear one after the other until my amulet was back to be a clean slate. Ever since I got a new family, Iʼve never put it away because it allows me to check on them.”

He pointed at the various communication rune engraved on the silver.

”Oh, gods, Iʼm so sorry. I had no idea.” Brina turned pale while realizing her blunder. ”Was it because of Overlord Salaark? Iʼve heard sheʼs a heartless tyrant.”

”No, she would never do such a thing. It was-” Nalrondʼs mouth became dry when almost all the runes on his amulet turned dim at the same time.

Only those belonging to Tista, Solus, Protector, and Faluel were still available, but he knew that all of them were out of Lutia. Protector was away on a mission, Faluel was gone with some of her friends, and the girls were having a night out.

He contacted them in a conference call while disabling the holograms to not draw any more attention.

”Oh, gods. Itʼs my first day off in months and one of my kids calls me right when I was about to relax.” Faluel groaned despite her masseuseʼs best efforts to alleviate the tension in her shoulders.

The Dragon Bath was one of the finest establishments in the Gorgon Empire and it accepted all races as long as the guests behaved. It had hot springs, thermal mud baths, and the best cooks of the Garlen continent.

”Thatʼs why I donʼt take apprentices nor do I want cubs for a while.” Scarlett the Scorpicore laughed at the Hydraʼs misfortune. ”Too much hassle. I prefer keeping things simple. Either I trust someone, or I eat them.”

”Whatever. If she leaves, I call dibs on her snacks.” Feela the Behemoth couldnʼt understand why human servings were so small. Every time she went to a spa, the leader of the Beast Council spent a small fortune on food.

”Then Iʼll take her drinks.” Scarlett replied.

”Thanks for your concern, girls.” Faluel snarled while answering. ”Nalrond, what part of ʼI donʼt want to be disturbed you didnʼt understand?”

”Master, can you please check whatʼs wrong with Lutia?” Nalrond ignored her question and went straight to the point.

”What the fuck?” Faluel jumped up the massage table, making her friendsʼ expression turn serious.

”I canʼt feel any of the protections I laid.” She took a control crystal out of her dimensional amulet and discovered that its light was gone.

”Someone has not only disabled them all, but they also managed to not trigger any of the alarms. Iʼll be there in a- Oh, dammit! I can barely feel my lair as well. Someone has placed an air sealing array all around it to keep me from Warping straight home.”

”Donʼt worry, I can-” Feela failed to contact her lair as well and so did Scarlett.

”Someone planned this carefully. They know where you are and with whom you are. I bet-” Scarlett attempted to say.

”Are you telling me that my children are in danger?” Protector cut her short. His tone felt even less respectful than Nalrondʼs. ”Fuck the mission, Iʼm going back.”

”Tista, Iʼd go check on Rena if I were you.” Nalrond said while trying and failing to open a dimensional door near Seliaʼs house. ”Lithʼs house is protected by more arrays than I can count and by the Queenʼs corps whereas Selia has nothing but her hunting tools!”

In that moment, Nalrond couldnʼt care less about the customers of the Heavenly Wolf seeing him use magic. A Warp Steps leading to the Trawn woods opened right beside his table and it closed the moment he stepped through it.

He ended the call while shapeshifting into his Rezar form and flying at breakneck speed. The images of his burning village kept replaying in front of his eyes, making him unable to put away the communication amulet.

The contact runes were the only way Nalrond had to make sure that the few people who really knew who he was and who cared for him were still alive.

”Undead.” Feela completed the phrase for Scarlett, ignoring the disrespect of a disciple toward their master for the first time in centuries. ”They canʼt use dimensional magic much and they like to seal air magic to even the field.”

”Can you help me to get back home?” Faluel asked while conjuring her clothes.

”Iʼll do more than that. Those leeches didnʼt just mess with one of your disciples, they dared to tamper with your home and even mine! I donʼt give a damn about humans, but if itʼs a war that the undead want, Iʼll gladly bring it to their doorstep.”

Feelaʼs amulet was covered with so many runes that their light made it impossible to see the Davross underneath. Yet it took but a wave of her hand to activate them all at the same time.

***

The only thing Lith hated about Lutia was that aside from the mana geyser located deep inside the Trawn woods, there wasnʼt another for almost a thousand kilometers.

It meant that, even if Solus was with him, he would have been forced to use a Gate to Derios, the capital of the Distar Marquisate, and then to go home. With his movements tracked by the Kingdomʼs system, going to Yncaʼs mana geyser with his family in mortal danger would raise too many questions.

Yet before giving his destination to the Gateʼs clerk, Lith tried to contact Faluel, finally noticing all the missed calls. Tista, Solus, and the Hydra quickly brought him up to speed.

”Derios, quickly!” He said the moment he learned that the mysterious aggressor had disabled even the Beastsʼ Gate network.

”Master Faluel, how long will it take you to get back to Lutia?”

”Iʼm in the Empire so my answer is: too long. I can use our network to get back to the Kingdom, but from there Iʼll have to reach Derios just like you.” Faluel understood how dire the situation was when Lith called her ʼmasterʼ instead of ʼprofessorʼ.

He unconsciously buttered her up only when he was desperate.

”Iʼm going to Renaʼs home while Solus will wait for you at the usual spot.” Tista said before closing the call.

Solus felt helpless for one time too many. Without a mana geyser to empower the tower, without Lith to fuel her broken core, she was no different from an average fake mage.

To make matters even worse, the Trawn Woodʼs geyser was too distant from Lithʼs home to even allow them to fight as they had done at the Feymar mines.

Lith inwardly cursed his own bad luck and the enemyʼs careful planning. They had waited for the precise moment when Faluel and all the most powerful beings of the Lustria county were away to strike.