Supreme Magus novel Chapter 2285

Zinya's kidnapping would have put Vastor out of the game which the Royals couldn't afford. He was their only Highmaster and the heaviest hitter the Kingdom had aside from the Queen's Corpse.

Berion was in charge of the detail of Lith's family. Kidnapping him meant throwing into the gutter countless traps and preparations. As for Faluel, no one knew why, but Lith had demanded a detail for her and the allied forces had been forced to comply.

Their deal still gave him absolute control over the joint armies and Lith couldn't risk Thrud getting control over the Hydra and with her the Hands of Menadion.

"At this point, Thrud should have finished instructing Phloria and learned from her everything relevant to her goals." Lith pondered in the tower with his own War Council. "Yet there is no trace of her nor of the Golden Griffon. Why?"

"More kidnappings?" Friya asked with a shrug.

"No, there's nothing more she can obtain from us. Phloria gave out our secrets and Iata taught her troops Light Mastery. What need does Thrud have for another prisoner?" Quylla replied. "They would have already taken Zinya if they could and I doubt Thrud wants to face Tezka again."

They had no video of the battle, but the reports from the witnesses spoke of a one-sided massacre. That and the kids going back home in time despite the kidnapping, proved that the team of Divine Beasts ambushing them had failed even to slow them.

"I have no idea about what Thrud's cooking, but I bet it's going to be nasty." Faluel said. "Always keep your guard up and be ready for the worst. Maybe the Mad Queen really doesn't need more hostages but maybe she's going to use Phloria as bait."

"Agreed." Solus nodded. "Phloria is our weak point since we want her alive whereas the slave array will make her go for the kill. Thrud can exploit our bond to capture or kill us one by one."

"Whatever you do, please, let's avoid another Yurial." Quylla clenched her fist, her face turning pale as she vividly remembered the sensation of the knife slitting her friend's throat. "If Phloria kills one of us, she'll never forgive herself."

***

Grand Duchy of Deirus, the day after.

When the members of Lith's group heard the news, no one said it, but everyone thought to have jinxed the war by talking about their late friend.

Thrud's army had reappeared at the borders of the former Grand Duchy where Yurial had lived. After Velan's death, there was no time to find a suitable replacement and the second most competent noble of the region had become ruler ad interim.

Alas, Deirus had already started splitting the territories before his death and those who had received them didn't like losing their newfound authority so fast. It was Night's and Velan Deirus' parting gift.

The Grand Duchy was internally divided and its military force weakened. Not even the war had made the various nobles see reason. The frontlines were far away enough to make the nobles consider all matters related to the war someone else's problem.

Or so they thought until they found their own main hubs sieged.

Thrud's army had cut through the bordering Remana region like a hot knife through butter, reaching Deirus in the space of a single night.

"Idiots." Thrud said with a smile from her Throne room. "I'm done with the strategy of attrition. That had never been my real goal. It was just the means to stall for time while I completed my preparations.

"I needed to finish turning my Generals into Divine Beasts and then I needed them to master their new bodies in actual combat. No matter how much I trained them, they were still green and used to fight as mere Emperor Beasts.