Chapter 3231 Shadow Play (Part 2)
Everyone left the War Room but Lith, Kamila, Jirni, Balkor, and the babies.
"I'd like to get over with our business, if you don't mind." The god of death said. "I have no intention of following you into the Fringe. I'm sorry for your friend, but I don't know or care for either of you.
"I have no reason to endanger what little is left of my lifespan for a stranger. My family comes first. I'm sure you can understand." Balkor pointed at the babies and Lith nodded.
"Then why are you still here?"
"Because the situation is not as desperate as it seems and because the Overlord requested my presence." The god of death replied. "Just because I won't be there it doesn't mean I can't help you."
"Help me how?" If there was a logic to Balkor's words, Lith failed to follow it.
"By sharing my experience on how to fight against an overwhelming opponent with the aid of an army of immortal puppets." Hearing the god of death talking about the Demons of Darkness as disposable tools enraged Lith but he remained silent and listened.
"I know your abilities from second-hand sources so I need you to be honest with me. Your undead soldiers don't die unless they run out of mana or give up, correct?" The Blood Magus asked and Lith nodded in reply.
"Also, even though you are not their maker, they are blindly loyal to you. Is this correct as well?"
"Not really." Lith hesitated a bit before revealing the weakness of his powers. "It's more like a deal. I call upon souls willing to follow my orders in exchange for a second chance at life. If nobody answers the call, I can't make demons."
"So you have to cross your fingers and deal with the moral scruples of a bunch of long-dead losers?" Balkor was impressed.
What the Demons of Darkness lacked in obedience, they made up for it in resourcefulness. Having their own will meant that Lith didn't need to constantly supervise his army like Balkor did back in the day.
"Yes. Is that a problem?" Lith asked.
"Quite the contrary." The god of death replied. "Lots of people die on Mogar every day. I'm sure there are more than enough scumbags to answer your call and do whatever you ask them to.
"Who knows, maybe they'll even do what you are not willing to."
"What do you mean?" Balkor's cruel smile gave Kamila the creeps but she still wanted to know.
"How do you think I succeeded for so long against enemies who were superior to me under every aspect, Lady Verhen? By mercilessly striking at their weak points. And I mean this and this."
A wave of Balkor's hands highlighted the arrays' runes midway between the junction points and then at the elven villages.
"Are you really suggesting my husband to attack innocent civilians?" Kamila stood up, slamming her palms against the table.
"Innocent?" The god of death sneered at her like she was a dumb child. "Isn't Solus innocent as well? Weren't all the people the World Tree murdered to lure your husband into a trap and those who died in the aftermath innocent?
"The blood of every person Lith killed as an Abomination, every person who died in Zeska while he fought with his brother is on the World Tree's roots and the hands of his loyal Chroniclers.
"Without them, nothing would have happened and we wouldn't even be here." His words hit Kamila like a slap, making her anger fade and forcing her to sit back.
"The elves who live in the Fringe might not have dirtied their hands directly, but they are not innocent either. They are the Tree's accomplices! Without them, that fat piece of wood could have never kidnapped your friend or attempted to kill your husband.
"They are the Yggdrasill's hands and feet. Their eyes and ears. We've all listened to the little elf. Without the Chroniclers, the World Tree is a sitting duck who can only use magic. It's because of them that the Wood Golems are so deadly.
"Remove them from the equation and the World Tree won't even get close to the power of a Guardian."
Kamila was appalled by the Blood Magus' strategy while Lith could see its merits.
'Based on what Aalejah told me, Chroniclers are like Harbingers. The Yggdrasill can order them to ignore the burning villages and focus on the attackers, but that would only make things easier for me.
'The inner conflict and the constant distraction from the screams for help would make the Golems' pilots lose focus. In battle, one second of distraction is fatal and my Demons can buy me way more than a second.
'The only problem is the toll it would take on my conscience and my relationship with Kami.' Lith looked at her, reading her fear and disgust.
"What about those runes?" Lith changed the topic. "You heard Tezka. The arrays support each other and attacking them is pointless."
"He would be right, if we were talking about living people or spells." Balkor replied. "They would reach their target covered in deadly wounds and be killed before they can fully conjure their spells. Yet we are talking about undead.
"They don't feel pain or fear. They have no hope or need to come back from their mission." The god of death took a piece of paper out of his Magus robes' pocket and handed it to Lith.
"This is the self-destruct spell my minions were programmed to use when cornered. It's devised to make the energy of their mana cores go awry and amplify it by burning their life forces.
"I created it back when I didn't even know the words 'mana core' and after becoming an Awakened I've improved it for the fun of it. To see how far I could have gone if I weren't just a fake mage."
Balkor sighed, his gaze lost in the distance.
"Now it's yours. Teach it to your Demons, explain to them what runes they have to target, and once they reach them, make them explode. Tezka is right about the arrays. Destroying one is impossible.
"But what if you don't attack the whole array but focus a powerful blow on a single weak point? If you attack many weak points at the same time?"
"The shared energy would be dispersed between too many arrays to be effective." Lith replied as he used the hologram to run simulations for attack patterns. "Also, if an explosion is strong enough, a rune might be scattered before the defense can solidify.
"Even if damaging a single rune causes no permanent damage, the array would become uselessuntil the spells self-repairs. Even better, all the connected arrays would be useless, creating openings in the Yggdrasill's perfect defence!"
"I like you, kid." Balkor nodded, finding no fault in his reasoning or error in the simulations. "Your mind and heart are in the right place."
"Are you fucking kidding me? How can you say things like that?" Kamila clenched her hands so hard that they turned white. "The Demons are nothing like your mindless drones. They are people with their own feelings and memories!"