"What's our next move?" Friya asked. "Even though we now know their endgame, we can't just sit idly. Once the array is activated, there's no telling how long the process will take. I don't want to lose years of life!"

"I agree. We must make our move before they get the upper hand." Ryman said.

"We must lure them out in the open and to do it, we need to break their toy. Without the people affected by the Griever, their array will break. The only reason why they do not get themselves healed is that they have fallen for the Church's deception."

"We need to get rid of the Church and heal those morons." Lith said.

After learning about the presence of more than two Awakened inside Zantia, Lith had been forced to give up on his original plan of storming the Church in his hybrid form. It was something he had to do on his own since it would have been hard to explain to Friya about his shapes.h.i.+fting abilities.

Protector's arrival was truly a blessing. He was both an excellent fighter and a perfect cover for what was going to happen. Friya already knew about Lith's abnormal body, Death Vision, and about him sharing his life force with Ryman.

Now all Lith needed was a better understanding of the Church of the Six's teachings before giving those Awakened a taste of their own medicine.

***

Just a few kilometers away from Viscount Krame's mansion, the four remaining Awakened were arguing about their plan and cursing Kieran's name. If not for his childish pride of being the next heir of the Blood Desert's best a.s.sa.s.sin, everything would still be on the right track.

"We have no choice. We must continue even without Deraniel." Ailia said. Like Pelion, she was native of the Gorgon Empire. Her blue mana core was as strong as Lith's, whereas her body was weaker than his.

Her master had Awakened her when she already had a green mana core. Her body needed a lot of time to adapt, and she still needed help to survive whenever it was the moment to expel the impurities for a breakthrough.

She was 1.75 meters (5'9") tall with light blonde hair and green eyes. Thanks to being an Awakened, her figure would make most men break their necks while turning their heads at her pa.s.sing. Yet among the Awakened ones, she was just one of many.

"Agreed. Not all of us have an Awakened daddy like Deraniel. 'There's always next year' my a.s.s!" Pelion said while imitating Deraniel's accent and spitting on the fireplace, turning it into a pillar of fire with a spark of mana.

"I'm not saying to give up on the plan. I need Third Eye as much as you do. I'm just saying that maybe we should delay it. If we leave Zantia now, the Council will never find us." Benyo nervously bit her nails.

She was 1.77 meters (5'10) with flaming red hair and hazel eyes. She possessed a bright cyan mana core, but thanks to her master Awakening her when she was very young, her body refinement had been easy, at least compared to her companions.

Thanks to that, her body was stronger than Ailia, and her figure was even better.

"Delay it? We'll never get another opportunity like this. The city is isolated and the arrays are set in place. If you are so afraid, then I say that we start the ritual now and then we run away as fast as we can.

"During spring and summer, it would be impossible to keep so many people locked inside their homes, not to mention we will probably be already dead!" Jaren said.

He was 1.8 (5'11") meters tall, with brown hair and eyes. He wasn't as tall nor bulky as Pelion was, but he had the build of a professional fighter. He had a bright cyan mana core and his body was on par with Benyo, allowing him to go hand to hand with magical beasts.

He and Benyo were native of the Griffon Kingdom, but it didn't make them any less scared. The use of forbidden magic was a crime even in the Awakened community, in case the Council discovered their extracurricular activities, they were as good as dead.

Yet they weren't afraid of the Council so much as of their own masters. An Awakened mage was considered responsible for all of their disciples, so they would never bestow their gifts upon someone for nothing.

Awakening was a rare phenomenon, and not all of those who managed to do it on their own would live long enough to become hard to kill. There were those who died of starvation, in battle, or simply due to their own stupidity.

So, when an Awakened mage needed an heir, they would pick up one or more talented youths as their apprentices. The one who succeeded would inherit their legacy, while the others had to find a new master or die.

Deraniel was an exception since his master was also his own father. Even if he failed, Tasaar would not kill him. Kieran was another exception. Lesalia only picked one apprentice at the time and disposed of them as soon as she found them wanting.

Ever since Lith had destroyed the Black Star, Lesalia had used him as a benchmark to push her disciple to and beyond his limits. With his life on the line, Kieran had soon started to hate Lith's guts, fearing that the rogue Awakened's feats would be the death of him.

The remaining members of the group were the cream of the crop in their own territory, but only thanks to Third Eye. They were all brilliant, but not geniuses. With their talent alone they could see the top of the mountain, but never reach it.

That was the reason why they had resorted to using such an elaborate scheme. They had met each other during Council meetings, bonding thanks to their mutual age and problems.

Together, they had managed to alter Third Eye with forbidden magic, so that they would split his effects, both good and bad, equally between the six of them. They would still lose a consistent amount of their life force, but the ritual had brought them to the top.

They had calculated that to beat their compet.i.tion they would lose a total of two hundred years of life each. It was a small price to pay to inherit their masters' legacy and territory.

Especially if the alternative was dying young after having spent their whole lives slaving away. Just like Vorgh had said, the forbidden magic allowed them to slightly mitigate the cost of the ritual each time they performed it.

Yet even one year of life force mattered, since thanks to Acc.u.mulation, it would last ten if not twenty times as much. The humans they harmed didn't matter. They would lose their own life force and die decades later, making their deaths seemingly unrelated.

The six Awakened had lured Lith for two reasons. The first was to use him as the seventh member and further reduce the strain on their life force. The second was because Kieran wanted to get rid of him and prove to be the best fighter in the three Great Countries.

Yet the plan was to make them fight after the ritual, not before. They needed both of them alive, especially since as a rogue Lith had no connection with the Council, so he couldn't report them even if he managed to escape.

The Wyrmling arrival, though, had proven them to be dead wrong.