Lith repeated his question for the third time, but after almost dying twice to the a.s.sault that followed its attempts to answer, the creature understood the human had no interest in talking. His words were just a way to distract it, to vent his anger, or both.

The Empowered Abomination was one of the Master"s loyal servants and had been bestowed a name from them: Jarok. Normal Abominations lived alone, never interacting with someone unless they fed on them.

They had no need for names, only power. After joining the Master"s cause, names had become their status symbol, akin to a n.o.ble t.i.tle. Receiving one meant the Master trusted them enough to need their help.

Jarok cursed at its bad luck. What was supposed to be a simple investigation and retrieval mission had turned into a huge mess. Jarok was indeed stronger than a Valor, but the reason the Master had sent it wasn"t its combat prowess, but its stealth capabilities.

Just like Lutia was called "the Graveyard", Lith"s house was better known as "the Death"s Door". Usually one would find a single Evolved Monster in an area as big as the Trawn woods, yet there were three and all of them stalked the Verhen Household.

Also, since Tista joined the academy, another two squads of the Queen"s corps had been added to the protection detail. The Queen feared that a gra.s.sroots magical bloodline in the middle of nowhere was too much of an easy target, so she had taken precautions.

With all the arrays in place, the four elite squads, and the Evolved Monsters standing watch from the shadows, touching a member of the Verhen family was only slightly easier than stealing a phoenix"s egg.

The Master suspected Lith was behind the crystal"s disappearance because he was the only one present when the orc shaman died. They needed him alive to know if he had the crystal and where it was stored.

A Forgemaster like Lith could turn anything into a dimensional item, making the search for the crystal harder than finding a needle in a haystack. Kidnapping a family member was out of question.

It would require a couple of Eldritch Abominations to get past the wards, but by the time they succeeded, the family would have been relocated and the security increased.

Also, the Master didn"t want to antagonize Lith. They had followed the nameless commoner"s career and deemed him as one of the chosen, one of the few people the Master was willing to share the results of their research with.

The Master was biding their time before offering Lith the opportunity to join them. The youth was talented and brilliant. With his a.s.sistance, the Master could save years if not decades of research.

Jarok had waited for his return for months and this was the first opportunity it had to speak with him alone. Lith"s habit of Warping around made it impossible to follow him.

"What kind of monster is he?" Jarok thought.

"When Lith was twelve, he needed his companions to defeat a newborn and incomplete Puppeteer Abomination. Then he almost died fighting a Valor. There"s no way he got this strong in just a few years. Unless…" The revelation struck Jarok like a lightning and so did the Gatekeeper, cutting away its remaining arm.

"Unless he is an Awakened one and all the intel we have on him is dead wrong." Jarok kept moving as tendrils of darkness came out of the severed limbs and reattached them to the main body.

Neither Jarok nor Lith was scared of their opponent. It wasn"t their first rodeo. They both believed the situation was under control. The Abomination conjured three waves of air blades all at once.

One was aimed at Lith while the other two invaded the s.p.a.ce on his sides, making it impossible for him to dodge.

"Interesting." Solus thought. "It can reason and cast spells. This Abomination could teach us a lot." She studied the creature like it was their newest science project. Solus had no sympathy for Abominations nor she was worried for Lith.

His mind was in a fit of rage, but not the kind that makes a man act recklessly without care for the consequences. It was focused and amplified like a light turned into a laser, and it had only one aim: to kill.

Lith was forced to Blink away, just as Jarok predicted. It contracted the shadows that composed its body and infused them with mana until they burst out in all directions. The s.p.a.ce in a five meters (16") radius around it was now filled by countless spikes protruding from a black core.

It was both the perfect attack and perfect defense, with no blind spot nor target left to attack.

Before the creature which now resembled a sea urchin could return to its original shape, a pillar of blue flames descended from the sky causing it blinding agony. Contrary to Jarok"s expectations, instead of pressing forward Lith had moved upwards.

Lith had no idea if his opponent had access to Life Vision, dimensional magic, or both. By taking the high ground he could safely observe its reaction to a Blink. That way, even if the Abomination possessed the same skills of an Awakened one and Blinked forward, he would still be out of reach.

If not, the creature would leave itself open to an attack.

"No Life Vision." Solus pondered while Lith made the pillar follow Jarok"s every movement to prevent it from escaping the fiery trap. The creature roared with fury and Blinked to safety, or so it thought.

Lith"s tier four true spell Burning Prison encased the dimensional door"s exit point. Six fireb.a.l.l.s appeared at the same time around Jarok, one above, one below and the others in a square shape. The fireb.a.l.l.s exploded simultaneously, each reinforcing the effect of the others.

"Enough!" The Abomination screamed while unleas.h.i.+ng its trump card. A black sphere enveloped the creature and ripped apart Lith"s mana from the world elemental energy.

Burning Prison disappeared in a puff of smoke without inflicting any damage.

Jarok extended its left arm which emitted the tier four Chaos magic spell Howling Void. A spear made of darkness as thick as an arm crossed the s.p.a.ce between them too fast to be dodged.

Lith Blinked away in a random direction, his eyes glued to the opponent while Solus stared in awe at the unknown spell"s aftermath. Everything on Howling Void"s path had simply disappeared.

"It"s impossible! Darkness magic is supposed to be slow." Solus was flabbergasted. "Not only did that thing move fast, but it also made matter decay in an instant."

Chaos magic was a twisted version of darkness magic, something that only Abominations could use. Light and darkness were two faces of the same coin, yet Abomination could forcefully sever the connection between them.

Nature abhorred the void. Whatever was. .h.i.t by Chaos magic wouldn"t just rot, it would also transfer its innate light energy to restore the balance, leaving the victim with no protection against the invading darkness.

Chaos magic moved fast because its energies were attracted by light magic like magnets of opposite poles.

"Last chance. Give me the purple crystal or die!" Jarok was tired of being Lith"s punching bag. It preferred to defy the Master"s orders and kill one of the chosen rather than die.