Supreme Magus novel Chapter 1958

Chapter 1958 - The Die is Cast (Part 2)

"If in my previous battle I needed to check how I fare against a human army, now I can experience the Awakened's tactics and put mine to the test. Royal Pardon or not, I'm going to fight Thrud and I need all the practice I can get against an Awakened army." _{freewёbnoνel.com}

"Is it still worth risking your life for?" Solus fiddled with her hair, finding it uncomfortable having only two colored streaks due to Body Sculpting.

"I'm going to risk my life anyway in the War of the Griffons." Lith shrugged. "At least now I have three powerful Eldritches and you by my side. It's much safer than on any battlefield I will ever step into."

"Why not just leave it to the Council?" She looked unconvinced.

"Because the Mouth is yours, Solus, and if they knew about such a powerful artifact, they would take it for themselves. As I've always said, nothing that's worth having comes easy, but once you reach our level, you often have to fight for it.

"People will not let you have good things out of the goodness of their heart, not even those you deserve. If you don't stand up for yourself, they'll take everything away from you."

"Is it an artifact really worthy of shedding so much blood? How are you any different from the Council?" Theseus chimed in, feeling conflicted.

"The artifact? No, but that's not on me. We gave them proof of Solus' rightful claim, we gave them a choice to end things peacefully, and they turned it down." Lith replied. "I'm different from the Council because I'm not the one seeking battle.

"I can't decide how people live, but for sure I can decide how people who raise their hand against me die. I don't enjoy violence, but if you start avoiding conflict, you'll end up with nothing but the clothes you wear. If you are lucky."

Solus was still mulling over Lith's words when Bytra approached her. The Raiju kept her distance until Solus allowed her to come close.

"What do you want?" Her voice came out way ruder and colder than she intended.

"This is going to be a difficult battle and I will need to use the Absolution." Bytra replied while offering Solus the hammer once again. "To do that, I need your permission."

"Why do you need my permission to use your weapon?" Solus furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Because I consider the Absolution a part of Menadion's legacy." The Raiju said. "I could only make it because I stole the Fury and studied it for years. Like you always said to me, I have no creativity.

"I upgraded your mother's runes to become the Fourth Ruler of the Flames just like I simply upgraded your mother's hammer to craft the Absolution. It belongs to you not me and I don't want to take anything away from you anymore."

Solus flushed in embarrassment at the rudeness of the words of her past self. After spending years with Lith and working hard to understand the secrets of Forgemastery, she knew how hard it was to upgrade something.

Most of their best pieces were "just upgrades" like the Orichalcum Skinwalker armor from which they had derived all the others. On top of that, the Raiju's thoughtfulness moved her.

Bytra was willing to put Solus' feelings first and her own survival second in order to redeem herself.

'I really was a jerk to Bytra.' Solus thought and was about to apologize when rage replaced shame.