Chapter 4086: The Warrior King and the Emperor (Part 1)
Chapter 4086: The Warrior King and the Emperor (Part 1)
Everything from Lith’s features to his muscles now bordered on perfection, making it hard for the guests to take their eyes off him.
Yet when the same change happened to Kamila, Elysia, and Tista, they succeeded.
The baby girl only had two eyes like her mother, but they shone with prismatic light. The Verhens’ hair color hadn’t changed, yet under the magical lights of the Ball Room, they now gleamed with a reddish sheen like polished metal.
"I assume that you have all watched the recordings of the fight against Ruugat of the Earth." Lith said, and everyone nodded for him to continue. "Back then, I experienced a change that hinted at the possibility that my Tiamat bloodline held the secret of human evolution.
"I’m happy to tell you that the possibility turned into a certainty. When the Dead King attacked the Kingdom, he also sent his troops to the Blood Desert to keep me away. As you can see, my fight with his Upyrs ended with more than my victory.
"When their Frost Soul sealed my equipment, arrays, and elemental magic, my survival instinct awakened the dormant power of my human side. On that day, this aspect of my life force manifested itself for the first time.
"To prove to you this is not just a trick, allow me to introduce our honored guests from Zelex to you."
On his cue, Urhen the Balor and Ryla the Fomor joined the Verhens.
"I apologize in advance if my words offend anyone, but I’m going to put this in terms that are easy to understand even for laymen. You, or rather, most of you, are the foundation of humanity. The evolutionary equivalent of regular animals."
Death Vision showed more than one undead disguised as a noble among the guests. One of them was a Lich.
"Urhen and all Balors like her are the equivalent of magical beasts. Ryla and Fomors are Emperor Beasts. My wife, daughter, sister, and I are Indeches, the equivalent of Divine Beasts."
Under any other circumstance, the ballroom would have burst into an uproar. Everyone had something to say, objections to make, and questions to ask, but their mouths refused to open.
Moreover, the guests could feel in their guts that Lith was telling the truth. The humans, in particular, had no doubts about it.
While Urhen’s figure exuded beauty and strength, Ryla was beautiful, strong, and imposing. The Indeches were all that, but they also exuded an aura of majesty that would have brought the humans to their knees if they weren’t already sitting.
Lith and the other Indeches were releasing none of their power. Their presence itself exerted a pressure that primed the guests’ instinct to bow and cower. They couldn’t tell whether it was an instinct akin to a prey recognizing its predator or a commoner his king, only that the instinct was there.
"Please, believe me when I say I didn’t hide this form out of malice." Lith said. "I discovered it only recently, and I’ve devoted this time to understanding what it can do and how it can help us to defeat the Dead King.
"I still have much to learn, but this I can already show you." He took a deep breath, activating his yellow eye and turning one-sixth of his feathers yellow.
Lith’s relentless training paid off, a golden lightning sparked from his eye and arched across his body before focusing on his hands. Lith chose two nobles with weak cores and bodies, avoiding Awakened and undead alike.
The audience gasped as Vital Storm struck, then gasped again when its targets yelled in ecstasy instead of pain.
"I feel young again!" Said an old woman, dancing on her toes like a ballerina.
"I’ve never felt this strong!" Said a scrawny youth as he moved between the tables so fast that his figure blurred.
"This is one of the powers of the Indech." Lith gestured for them to calm and sit down, knowing the effects of Vital Storm wouldn’t last long. "A power I can share with you and our troops when we’ll fight side by side against the Dead King’s thralls.
"I used it on regular people, so its effects may not be too clear. To not leave any doubt about Vital Storm’s might, I’ll use it again on two warriors. King Meron needs no introduction, but maybe not all of you know General Vorgh."
Lith took a step back, leaving the center stage to the King and a short, old man barely 1.5 meters tall (5’) wearing the light blue uniform of the army. The several wrinkles on his face and the spots on his skin betrayed his 73 years of age.
His sky-blue eyes, however, had the wild vibe of a predator in his prime. Vorgh’s short white hair and finely trimmed beard of the same color shone like silver fur under the sun, reinforcing the guests’ impression of staring at a beast of the north.
Vorgh’s sleeves bore a silver star. It identified him as a Brigadier General. His right hand was wielding a staff of unknown design. It was made from white oak wood, with six violet magic crystals engraved in a straight line on its surface.
Six more floated above its top, forming a perfect circle that orbited around the staff following its every movement.
"General Vorgh is a Master Warden and a loyal subject of the Kingdom." Sylpha said. "We have arranged for his presence here because while we Royals have a tight relationship with Supreme Magus Verhen and may be accused of bias, General Vorgh is a pure soldier.
"He’s not interested in politics, nor is he affiliated with any faction. He only cares for his country and the people under his command. General Vorgh would never lie under oath, and those who doubt his word are free to challenge him."
"Will it hurt?" Vorgh asked Lith. He had been struck by many lightning bolts during his career, and none of them had been pleasant.
"Not at all." Lith shook his head. "Also, I’m going to lift a couple of arrays to let you test your enhanced abilities, General."
He handed Vorgh and Meron a note that they burned, so that only they knew which spells could be used.
Lith had chosen the King and the General because the former would understand the limits of the Indech’s ability compared to a Griffon’s Life Maelstrom, while the latter would be an objective witness.
When he injected them with Vital Storm, their reactions couldn’t have been more different. Meron compared the golden lightning’s effects with Life Maelstrom and found it wanting. Vorgh, instead, reveled in his new power.
"This is amazing!" He moved faster and with greater precision than when he was young.
He cast wide and powerful arrays so fast that he left many Awakened speechless. Vorgh activated none of them, but the guests still felt the weight of the magical formations pressing down on their necks like an executioner’s ax.
The General even discovered how to share Vital Storm with his equipment, covering himself in lightning and giving the impression of having become a god of thunder.
"Damn. Already?" Vorgh said as the Vital Storm faded, leaving him tired but overjoyed.