Supreme Magus

'Shit! Jirni knows about my ability to manipulate shadows since the incident at the academy. Then it happened again with Lark and Mirim. I bet that the moment she saw the recordings of my fight as a Tiamat, she solved the puzzle.

'At least she knows nothing about Solus-' Lith's train of thought stopped when he suddenly felt a flare in their bond.

There was so much pain, rage, and grief twisting Solus' mind that it now resembled his own. On top of that, the air in the room was weird yet familiar. Lith could feel a high concentration of world energy similar to a world tribulation.

There was no pillar of light and no quake. Only the black clouds swirling above the mansion and the unusual amount of energy matched his experience.

"I'll rejuvenate whoever you want whenever you want. As for your research team, I have to think about it. I'm sorry, but I got to run. Make up an excuse for me, sorry." He left the room in such a rush that the guests checked their amulets, expecting to find news of another attack of the copycat.

***

Solus was out of breath and her arms hurt. Yet when she saw the gruesome puddle in front of her reforming a human body, she picked the Fury again.

Killing an Eldritch was already a hard job, but killing an Abomination-hybrid as well-fed as Bytra was even harder. Killing an Abomination-hybrid while they stood above a mana geyser that constantly nurtured and fed their twin cores was something that only a Guardian could achieve.

"That's not the right way to do it." Bytra said the moment her windpipe and mouth regenerated enough to allow her to talk. "Beating me will only bring me pain. If you want to kill me, you have to use your breathing technique to locate my cores.

"Once you find them, use light magic to throw my cores into disarray. This body survives on a very delicate balance. Destroy it and you'll destroy me beyond even what my Abomination side can recover."

Solus nodded and shattered her face again, incapable of bearing the sound of Bytra's voice anymore.

"Bytra!" Zoreth had searched for them right after noticing the disappearance of the two women. "Why are you doing this? You promised me not to tell her!"

Her fists hammered at the door with the full weight of the Shadow Dragon, but the arrays held.

"You knew?" Solus said in outrage. "How can you love and care for a monster?"

"Because I'm a monster as well!" Zoreth roared, hurling a river of

Seeing the blood spattered throughout the room and Solus' hands brimming with power aimed at Bytra's heart, Zoreth shapeshifted in her Shadow Dragon form, just keeping its size small enough to fit inside the room.

Seeing the four yellow eyes glaring at her, the black scales steaming darkness, and the wings spread to hide Bytra from Solus's sight, made her think of Lith. Solus stopped and her fury quenched enough for her to come back to her senses.

"You would have every right to hate and kill Bytra if she was the original, but she's just a clone who inherited her memories. She's not the person you knew. Killing her wouldn't bring Menadion back, it would just put me in your same shoes.

"I hope that you'll find in yourself the strength to let her go because otherwise, we are going to fight." Zoreth growled, emitting puffs of fire and smoke with each word she said.

"No, you are not." Bytra stood up and walked in front of Zoreth, offering herself to Solus again. "Whatever Elphyn does to me, I deserve far worse. Zoreth, if you try to stop her, I'll never forgive you."

"Crazy woman! Are you telling me that either I let her take you away from me or I'll lose you because I didn't respect your decision?" The Shadow Dragon asked, and Bytra nodded.

"Fine! Then I choose the third option, not losing you." Zoreth placed herself in front of Bytra again. "If you want to kill her, then kill me first. One less mass murderer on Mogar won't burden your conscience and will make everyone happy."

"I have nothing against you." Solus' fury and confusion battled for dominion over her heart. "You've always been good to Lith."

"Yet I am a calamity for more people than you can imagine. I'm way older than you two and I'm an Eldritch Abomination. How many lives do you think I took just for the sake to keep living and how many to achieve my goals?"

Solus knew that what Zoreth said was the truth. There was no such a thing as a peaceful Abomination. Yet seeing the Shadow Dragon so determined to defend the person she loved to the point of seeking her own death, smothered her anger instead of provoking it.

"Why are you doing this? Why did you confess your crimes to me and tell me how to kill you?" Solus asked Bytra, her eyes still blood-shot with fury and her hands trembling in indignation. "You have a good life and a loving wife.

"All you had to do to keep them both was to keep your mouth shut."

Solus' voice came out of his clenched teeth, almost sounding like a hiss.

"A few days ago, Dad- I mean, Vastor, spoke with Lith. Zoreth and I were there, listening to their conversation when he said something that struck me harder than you ever could." Bytra said.

Solus remembered that day very well. She, Phloria, and Kamila had listened to the conversation as well. In a way, Bytra's life was similar to her own, and it made Solus want to puke.

"He said that he can't really have a fresh start with Zinya as long as he keeps hiding his bloody baggage from her. The same stands for me, Zoreth." She turned to the Shadow Dragon. "I can't have a new life until I get free from the shackles of my past.

"You were also right, my love, when you told me that I have to embrace all of the good and the bad things that my original did if I want to heal. I may not be the Eldritch Korgh, but I carry her legacy."

"I need to bear the consequences of my actions because if I don't, if instead of seeking reparation I just shielded myself behind a wall of excuses, I wouldn't be any better than the original Bytra. I would be a heartless monster, just like Korgh was."

Seeing how much Bytra loved Zoreth, how determined she was to make the right thing even if it meant giving up on her own life, made Solus understand that the Shadow Dragon was right.

The person in front of her now wasn't the Bytra she had known a little less than 700 years ago. That Bytra loved no one but herself and her pride as a Forgemaster. She had dedicated her whole life to her work, to the point of turning it into an obsession that had driven her insane.

The old Bytra had been consumed by envy and had rejoiced in taking out the competition, no matter the means she employed.. The new Bytra, instead, admired Menadion and was haunted by the memories of her death.