Supreme Magus novel Chapter 2313

"Damn. It's not such a bad deal, after all. If I play my cards right during that hour, I can get you to teach me more than kinky Fae stuff." Crank steepled his paws while planning his next move with great caution.

"Do you realize that you said everything out loud?" Tessa asked.

"I don't like lying." The Hyperion puffed out his chest with pride. "It involves remembering the nonsense you say and acting upon it. The truth is easier to remember and it allows me to do whatever I want."

"A fair point." The Titania nodded. "Filly?"

"Now that we have our tactical formation ready, what we need is a foolproof plan." Fyrwal got her cue. "The problem the Royals have had from the beginning of the War of the Griffons is the same we are experiencing now.

"Thrud strikes first, with her opponents moving blindly without any idea of what her goal is except for the one she lets them believe. She acts and we react. It sounds reasonable until you realize that if we keep it like this, we'll never take the initiative.

"Even worse, we'd just keep dancing in her palm, and sooner or later we'd be defeated or enslaved."

"I know, but I'm out of options. I tried conquering her lands and even striking terror with the Eldritches, but Thrud never took the bait." Lith pointed out.

"Indeed, but things are different now." Fyrwal used her contact amulet to conjure a map of the Kingdom. "If before the playfield was wide and Thrud had several possible targets, now she has only one final step left before conquering the Kingdom. The city of Valeron."

"Wrong, she has two." Lith shook his head. "One is me and the other is the capital. Thrud swore to leave me for last but at this point, she might as well take a swing at me."

"Fair enough." Fyrwal nodded. "What I meant is that now we can finally anticipate her moves and be the one who makes the first move. Sure, thanks to Phloria Thrud knows most of your secrets but so do we now.

"We can play around everything she throws at us because the rest of her path is straightforward and she has already revealed all the cards in her hand. Here is my plan."

The Elder Hydra proceeded to list a series of ploys and maneuvers, some of which would require weapons Forgemastered for a specific purpose. Her strategies would make use of Lith's control over the army and the Council, his Eldritch allies, and make them both revolve around Tessa's array.

"I like your plan and I think I might kick things up another notch." Lith said while taking out his communication amulet.

Inxialot the King of Liches answered immediately, but he wasn't the one Lith was looking for.

"What do you want? I'm busy." The Apophis used Inxialot's same greeting.

"I want to make you an offer." Lith shared the bare minimum of Fyrwal's plan to let Apep understand what he would be getting himself into. "If you accept and we succeed, I'll consider our deal fulfilled and deliver you my part."

"Hold on. What about me?" Crank asked as the Apophis hissed in surprise and excitement.

"Same thing. I'm willing to deliver a training tool for Blade Magic to you, Apep, Fyrwal, and Tessa. My offer was addressed to whoever brought Phloria alive to me and if this plan succeeds, I'll consider it done."

"Thanks, but no thanks." Tessa said. "I'm not doing this for glory or for a flimsy reward. I'm doing this in memory of my companions. I appreciated your offer, but you can keep your reward."

"Same here." Fyrwal nodded.

"I'm doing this for myself." Crank looked Lith in the eyes. "You got yourself a deal, kid."