Chapter 4558: True Sign (Part 2)

"Because unlike you, I have a life." Tyris crossed her arms. "I’m not some brute who goes around challenging Guardians for the fun of it. I take care of my people, and that sometimes means dealing with an asshole or two."

"I’m not a brute!" The Garuda replied in outrage. "I’m-"

"Quiet." Leegaain cut her short. "You can resume your punching measurement contest later. We have something more important than your wounded pride to deal with."

He paused to let his words sink in and the other two Guardians calm down.

"As I was saying, remember my fight against Roghar." Many eyes turned to the Lord of Mana, but none of them was kind. "We both went all out, but no Fringe. And before you joke about it, no. It wasn’t because we are weak.

"Mogar set up no Fringe because we were in the middle of nowhere, and Salaark took care of sealing the area for us. Mogar intervened only when we took out our Guardian weapons, and not even a pregnant Salaark could keep the people on both sides of the ocean safe.

"The same applies to our clashes with Baba Yaga and other white cores with a powerful mage tower. The location and the intentions of the fighters matter in Mogar’s decision about whether to establish a Fringe.

"So, maybe Tezka was right about worrying for Auros. Maybe he did have the strength to break your Honor Colosseum, Zagran, and if cornered, he might have destroyed the Bringer of Unity to take you down with him."

"Are you saying that if I had a bunch of Garudas seal our fight as Sally did, the Fringe wouldn’t have appeared?" Zagran asked. "That the old fox hasn’t really gotten that strong and Mogar wasn’t worried about the consequences of our clash, but about the death of a lost city?"

"No. There is no doubt that Tezka has become much stronger." Leegaain shook his head. "I know how strong your Honor Colosseum is and the power Salaark’s children needed to contain her fight. ⅇ

"Their barrier held out until Salaark and Tezka took out their equipment and used their Blade Spells. In your case, Mogar assumed the Honor Colosseum and Auros would have been destroyed without any of that.

"His strength has indeed reached another level. I’m just saying that maybe it’s not as bad as you think. Yet mine is only guesswork. I wasn’t there, and there’s only so much I can figure out from your memories alone.

"You stood in front of Tezka, Zagran, and your battle sense is the keenest among us. What was your impression of him?"

"I’ll be honest, his raw strength didn’t seem much." The Guardian of Might shrugged. "I didn’t feel threatened or unsettled even while under the boundary of his improved Chaos Dimension.

"The only thing that shocked me was his attitude. Tezka showed no sign of the hunger, anger, greed, or madness that are the mark of any Eldritch, let alone one who lived as long as he did.

"The Suneater didn’t want to fight, and wasn’t worried about what might happen to him. He only wanted to go home. Tezka even worried about what the consequences of our fight might do to Jiera more than I did.

"Yet the most shocking part of our encounter was his final question. I never thought about the meaning of a Fringe, nor have I ever heard an Eldritch try to understand Mogar’s intentions. Am I overreacting?"

"No, Zag Zag." Salaark replied. "Leegaain is right about your battle sense, and I think we should trust it. I believe what you have spotted is the true sign of the threat the Organization poses to us."

***

Griffon Kingdom, Zedken Region, city of Ruham, at the same time.

Amnaku, the leader of the Ishara expedition to Garlen, sifted through the reports of his subordinates. Almost everything was going exactly according to Great Patriarch Canthusa’s plans, and the Elder Council was pleased with the progress of the mission.

Yet almost wasn’t enough. A crack had formed in the fa?ade the Isharas needed to maintain in order to avoid an all-out war with Garlen. Canthusa was no coward, and knew there was no battle the blood of Selkis couldn’t win.

The question was how many Isharas would die in the process and how many unique bloodlines might be lost forever. The Great Patriarch had given Amnaku precise instructions to avoid pointless conflicts at all costs, and Amnaku had already failed his leader twice.

Many Isharas he had sent to capture the fungal creature in Verendi had never returned, and all those in charge of the infiltration of the Distar Region were dead. The loss of so many Divine Beasts was unacceptable, but alerting Verhen of the Isharas’ presence so close to his home was a failure on a league of its own.

"Status report." Amnaku pressed several runes on his contact amulet and the holograms of his lieutenants appeared one after another.

They confirmed what the Ishara leader already knew. The infiltration missions across the Griffon Kingdom and the Gorgon Empire were a resounding success. If not for the Ghishal County debacle, nobody would have uncovered the Ishara plot.

The Gorgon Empire was still unaware of the presence of the blood of Selkis throughout its lands, and Amnaku wanted to keep it that way.

"Let’s move on to the sour notes." He sighed. "How is the situation with Verhen in Distar?"

"As good as it can be." Bino replied. "We’ve recalled all our envoys from Ghishal and the neighboring counties to avoid any complications. The evidence of our deals has been destroyed and the middlemen who met us in person killed.

"For all Verhen knows, Ankhuta was after the money and resources of the Distar Region. He has no idea he and his son are among our targets. I’ve suspended all recon and surveillance for a while.

"I want Verhen to relax and forget about us. Capturing him is but the last step of our plan, and we are still at square one."

"Not anymore, my brethren." The chitinous black slate of Amnaku’s face broke into a wide smile. "Step one is complete, and step two is underway as we speak."

The lieutenants gasped in surprise and then erupted into cheers at the news. The leader let them share their joy for a while before raising his pincer for silence.

"The replica of the Hydras’ lab is complete. Thanks to the medical records the Garlen Council has already shared with us, now we can conduct their same experiments in our homeland of Rathi." That was step one.

"Also, I’m currently negotiating with the Roc bloodline, and things are progressing smoothly. If we can maintain plausible deniability, they will send us a copy of Ajatar’s notes as soon as he delivers on his promise."

Rocs were a Lesser species born from mixing Phoenix and Griffon blood. Their bloodline awakening process was bound to be much more complicated than their fellow Lesser Divine Beasts, so they had sought the Isharas’ help.

The children of the fallen Guardian of Evolution were the only ones who could help the Rocs in their endeavor and maybe even help them fuse their Guardian bloodlines into a new species similar to Valeron’s Bahamut.