Supreme Magus

The last fragment of his mana core faded and so did the construct holding the last spark of his life force. The communication amulet fell to the ground, the many runes on its surface disappeared, leaving a clean slate.

Manohar could feel the pull from the chain that bound him to Lith, but he ignored it. He broke the link with his characteristic stubbornness that not even death had tamed and left Mogar to discover the final mystery.

***

City of Derios, capital of the Distar Marquisate, at the same time.

Like the two Professors of the White Griffon, Lith refused to believe the images projected in the sky of the city. Krishna Manohar was the strongest and most annoying fake mage he knew.

Lith was certain that there was no way that someone like Orpal could defeat Manohar nor that death would assume on herself for all eternity the burden that was the god of healing.

Also, as long as the items that bore his imprint were fine, he had to be as well. Yet the moment he finished speaking with Jirni and listened to Manohar's message, he knew that it was all true.

"…and then live." The Mad Professor's voice said as his rune disappeared from Lith's amulet.

"No." Lith said, barely a whisper that only the customers of the Traveling Tavern with the finest hearing managed to hear.

"No." He repeated, this time louder.

Lith still refused to believe it. Just a few days ago they had traveled to the Desert together. Just a few hours ago, they had talked to each other and to the King and the Princesses. Manohar couldn't be dead.

Not like this. Suddenly taken away from him and tossed in the dirt like a band-aid.

"No!" Lith screamed in an inhuman roar that grew in intensity without ever stopping.

His seven eyes flared up with elemental energy as the shadows radiating from his body didn't just cover the walls anymore, they swallowed the entire Travelling Tavern.

The blackness erupting from him devoured all light, be it natural or magical in nature. It quickly expanded out of the restaurant and spread throughout Derios, blotting even the night sky.

For a few seconds, no one could see even their hand in front of their own faces. Then Locrias came out of his feather, joining the roar and so did countless shadows.

The black flame he emitted allowed Protector, Nalrond, and Haug to see countless chains bursting out from Lith's chest. Unbeknownst to them, the mystical bindings were scouring Mogar, in the search for Lith's lost friend.

For every Demon that rose, the blackness spread further like a disease, throwing the citizens of Derios and even the undead that had infiltrated the city into a panic. The only

It was a light that growled and glared, offering no solace, only terror.

Soon a cacophony of screams echoed through the city as the screams of the living joined the roars of the dead. Panic and fury complemented each other in a concert that only grew louder when the quake started.

"Where the fuck is Solus?" Nalrond asked as he tried to reach Lith, only to be grabbed and slammed to the ground by countless invisible hands.

"Back home. This was supposed to be a boys' night out." Protector replied, joining him and appreciating the self-cleaning spells of the floor from up close and personal. "Not that her presence would help. If Lith hears her cry, things would get much worse."

"Solus!" The Tiamat said, almost feeling her pain from the distance separating them.

A storm joined the quake, signaled only by the rumble of thunder since the blackness hid the clouds from sight like everything else.

"Me and my big mouth!" Protector said as the sound of rocks hitting heavily against the window and the sudden cold told him that hail was pouring down from the sky.

"Who the heck is Solus?" Haug asked.

He had already lived a similar situation back in Lightkeep, when Lith had learned about Mirim's death. The barkeeper had needed the help of several of his disciples to restrain Lith and back then he was much weaker.

The chaos in the tavern kept him from activating the offensive arrays. He would have hit the Tiamat along with many others that probably wouldn't survive the firepower needed to stun him.

Luckily, Haug had the contact runes of all his frequent customers in the case they needed to make a reservation. He pressed Kamila's rune, hoping it was the right choice.

He might have called Faluel or even another Divine Beast, but if a struggle broke out, his tavern if not even Derios wouldn't survive the clash of titans.

"Haug, this isn't the time for a social call. I have to run back to the office. Manohar's death is the biggest crisis since Balkor's attack seven years ago and-"

"I don't know you enough to care for a social call, miss Yehval. I need your help solving another crisis we both know." He cut her short.

"What are you talking about? I'm a human without magical powers whereas you are a violet cored Awakened. What could you possibly need me for?" She replied in confusion.

"Look up for Derios in the latest news. That's what I'm talking about." From her words, Haug understood that wherever she was, Kamila could talk freely.

"Is that Lith? Is he there with you?" The moment she read about the blackness and the wails coming from the capital of the Distar Marquisate, Kamila understood what was happening.

"In the flesh and grief." A couple of spells flew through the room, passing a few millimeters from Haug. "Stay still you idiots! If you keep shooting blindly, you are going to kill someone."

His clients were starting to panic and had cast spells hoping to take down the Tiamat, but the choir of screaming voices made it impossible to pinpoint his position. The Demons reacted badly to the threat, grabbing the customers and sucking their vitality away to neutralize them.

"Your boyfriend told me that you can keep him under control. If you don't calm him down, the Kingdom's officials will find this place the moment they devise a way to get rid of this darkness." Haug said.

"I can reach the Gate of Derios, but how will you find me if you can't see?" Kamila had no time to update a stranger about her love life so she moved straight to the point.

"I know the local branch of the Association like the back of my hand. Once you walk out of the Gate, stay there and I will find you."

Luckily for Haug, Kamila was already on the move when he had called. Her badge allowed her to use the local network of Gates of Belius to reach the Association and from there Derios in less than one minute.

"I'm here. Now what?"

Haug opened a Spirit Warp, bypassing the elemental sealing arrays of the Mage Association, and then used tendrils of Spirit Magic to search the vicinities of the Gate until he found her.

He dragged Kamila through the Steps and that's when it happened.

The blackness engulfed the entire city yet it avoided Kamila as if a spotlight followed her around the tavern.