"How is everyone?" Lith asked, eager to change the topic. "How is it possible that everyone won before us? Aside from Zogar, I mean." š»š³š¦š¦šøāÆš·šÆš°š£āÆš.š¤šš®
Zoreth wasnāt home at the moment of the attack, but a quick call and the names of a few of the hybris stationed there had reassured Lith that unless a meteor the size of a mountain hit Mogar, nothing would happen to the Professor.
"The White Griffon did the White Griffon." Kamila shrugged. She had received and read the reports of the attacks in real time. "The Upyrs never got close to the castle gates. They didnāt even try.
"They played it smart and moved with caution, keeping themselves always outside of the area of effect of the main arrays."
"Thatās weird." Lith scratched his head in confusion. "Itās a smart move, hence not something Meln would do. Casualties?"
"None." Kamilaās answer shocked him. "No one died. The Upyrs escaped safely before being surrounded, and the injured Professors retreated behind the academyās walls."
"What about Brinja?" Lith asked.
"The Distar bloodline went this close to extinction." Kamila shuddered at the thought. "Meln sent one of his clones and plenty of Upyrs. If not for the Queenās intervention, she, Ainz, and Milla would all be dead now."
"Fucking bastard!" Lith clenched his hands in fury. "That was his main goal, or he wouldnāt have sent a clone. Yet I donāt understand why killing the Distars was so important to him."
"Weāll think about that later." Kamila lifted the Hush. "You are all tired. You need warm food and rest in case thereās a second wave later."
"Wait, what about Professor Vastor?" Solus said. "I want to know what happened to him."
"At least someone cares about a poor, old man." The grumpy voice of the Professor came out of Zinyaās amulet. "Thanks for your kindness, Solus. I bet that if I waited for Lith to call, Iād grow a beard long enough to reach the floor."
"Oh, please." Lith snorted. "Let me guess. The Upyrs damaged only furniture that your arrays can repair, and no one died. Am I right?"
"Well, yes." Vastor cleared his throat. "To be honest, I didnāt even notice I was under attack. I was in my lab, and the security took care of the threat before a single alarm sounded. If Zin hadnāt called me, I would have never known until I read the evening news.
"By the time I left the lab, the house staff was already cleaning up the mess."
"Prisoners?"
"None." Vastor shrugged. "They were all small fish, and I doubt that Meln would have sent someone who knew anything useful. Even when the Upyrs... bargained for surrender, they knew nothing of his plans.
"They mentioned only a few locations that I bet are going to explode under the feet of the first unlucky soul that goes there."
"Pity." Lith sighed.
"Yeah, thank you for your concern. Your worry for my well-being is touching." Vastor grunted. "That said, I also bring Meln-unrelated good news. Iām done with my experiments on Hatorneās tattoos, and the Royals havenāt objected to your request.
"I can give you the first batch whenever you want and teach you how to apply the body-enhancing potions. Iām also working on a couple of variants, but itās too soon to use them. I havenāt worked out all the kinks, yet."
"I suppose you canāt bring them here, canāt you?" Lith asked.
"No, I canāt. Sorry, but Iām too busy." Vastor couldnāt step inside the Verhen Mansion without the risk of the Guardians exposing his identity as the Master. "You can come whenever you want, or I can have Zin bring you the materials."
"Iād love to, but I donāt think Iām going anywhere for a while." Lith replied.
"Donāt worry, Lith. Iāll bring everything with me when I return. I was just about to go check on Zogar." Zinya said.
"Thereās no rush." Vastor sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you that Iām fine?"
"I will be there in a minute. Love you."
At the same time, in the park, Lith offered Brinja a hot cup of tea and put Milla in the crib with the rest of the kids. The word crib didnāt do justice to the establishment, especially when Shargein entered the picture.
The Doomslayer crib became much bigger on the inside and gained all sorts of magical commodities thanks to the Guardians giving it their own spin.
"Iām sorry if I didnāt visit you earlier, Brinja, but after meeting Trequill, my Demons would have rioted if I didnāt let them spend some time with their families." Lith pointed at the tables at the other end of the park, where the Demons were having a picnic.
"Donāt apologize, Lith." She replied. "If you could summon my mother here, I would move to the Mansion, and no force on this planet could keep me away from her."
Brinja paused, giving him a hopeful look.
"Can you?"
"I can try." He did, yet nothing happened. "Sorry. I have no idea how I called Lark back or if I can do it again with Mirim."
"Donāt worry. Iām actually happier this way." Brinja said. "Knowing that she moved on and itās not trapped here, waiting to be avenged, is a big consolation. Also, I didnāt come here to receive something, but to give you this."
She handed Lith a silver amulet with a violet crystal embossed on its surface.
"Thatās the recording of the assault and the Queenās fight against Meln." She said. "I hate to admit it, but the bastard has gotten dangerous."
"Dangerous how?" Lith asked.
"Have you ever heard of Source Magic?" Brinja asked, and he nodded for her to continue. "That plus several annoying, powerful bloodline abilities kind of dangerous."
"Thanks, Iāll put this to good use." Lith leaned forward to take the amulet, but Brinja stopped his hand.

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