Ingesting Thrud's cells only had three possible outcomes. Inside an incompatible host, they would die in just a few days. This was the most common scenario. In the case of partial compatibility, the subject would become a made mage.

They would be useless as energy donors, but the symbiotic relationship with Thrud's cells would allow her to influence their thoughts, to use them as her spies, or simply as sacrificial pawns to keep the authorities busy.

Arthan's daughter had played that game many times. The trick was to constantly move from one country to another. She only needed one treatment once every hundred years and she was careful to pick cities that were both populous and corrupt.

By the time the local authorities noticed something was going on, Thrud was already gone. Once the odd phenomenons ceased, everything would be dismissed as an unknown disease, leaving not even a footnote in history books.

This time Thrud had played with her food longer than usual, but for a good reason. Since her last treatment, magic had improved by leaps and bounds. The Griffon Kingdom was famous for having the best Healers in the three great Countries.

She needed to be sure that her technique was still able to escape detection before moving to more efficiently organized realms, like the Empire or the Blood Desert. Thrud took pride in her work, and until that day she had believed it to be close to perfection.

It only had two major flaws. The first was the difficulty of finding a perfect match, the second was that Mogar would only tolerate someone stealing its energy for so long.

Be they made mages or the stupid nobles she lured with the promise of power, if they were too greedy in using their newfound magic abilities, Mogar would feel the

"itch

" and scratch itself in the form of a pillar of blue light.

The planet would take back the stolen world energy, usually killing the burglar in the process. If one didn't have enough mana to pay their debts, Mogar would also take their life force as compensation.

The death of a few pawns or Carpenters wasn't a big deal, but blue pillars from the sky were something no one could gloss over. Aside from that, her plan was flawless. The perfect matches knew how to reach her and, by sharing her mind, they had all the necessary skills to disappear without leaving a trace.

Even if the drug was discovered, there was no direct connection with her. The nobles under her thumb kept the authorities away, while the made mages served as a diversion. Thrud always had everything under control, or so she had believed until that night.

Now that she was back in her body, she could appreciate its inhuman strength, its enhanced senses, and the increased vigor of her mana flow. She drained the last members of her court before flushing the purple liquid out of the capsule.

"Finding Manohar is actually a blessing in disguise.

" She said to herself while wearing her battle suit.

"I have the opportunity to test my abilities against the Griffon Kingdom's greatest genius in centuries. If I can kill such a monster, then the day when I defeat the accursed Tyris is not far.

I'll avenge my father and take back the throne that's rightfully mine.

"

Meanwhile, several corridors below her, Manohar had used the Carpenters' suicide squad to wipe out the rest of his enemies. His tier five

"Can't touch this

" light magic spell had sealed the trigger happy creatures inside a spherical dome along with their companions.

Aside from a hole in the ground, the explosion resulting from their cores overloading had produced no effect.

"This is bad.

" Manohar was also used to thinking aloud, not because of centuries of isolation, he simply considered himself the only one worth listening to.

"I've consumed about half of my mana reserve and I don't think that miss whatshername will give me enough time for a cat nap. I need disposable… I mean I need help!

"

He said while turning around abruptly, scared at the idea that Jirni would appear behind his back like she usually did at the worst possible times. There was something in that woman that reminded him of his mother enough to scare him out of his wits.

A simple earth spell allowed him to identify the path of least resistance, while a light spell did the rest. All he had to do was to wait and rest.

***

Dawn Court branch, Outside the city of Othre. Now.

Having lost his most recent Vassal, his most promising chosen, and most likely his rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Night Court all at once, Kaelan was as close to having a stroke as an undead could be.

"I can't give the human an address, since the place he is looking for is in the middle of nowhere. I can show him where it is, though. We need to get outside first.

" He said.

A snap of Inxialot fingers Blinked the four of them several hundreds of meters above the ground. Lith, Sylla, and Kaelan were all shocked. Blink's range was about thirty meters and extending it even by a dozen meters required lots of mana.

Yet the Lich had moved all of them at once over a distance that usually only a Warp could cover. The vampire tried and failed to not appear impressed while he looked at the horizon in search of landmarks.

The Night Court had discovered of Thrud's existence soon after the first made mage appeared.

If someone asked them why they hadn't made a move against her, the undead would reply that she had provided them with plenty of humans whose bodies were somehow highly enriched with mana.

Feeding on their flesh, blood or minds strengthened the undead's blood cores almost as much as if they had consumed a mage. Thrud was responsible for only a small portion of the missing person cases, the others were all victims of the Night Court's feeding frenzy.

The truth was that they had already tried and failed. Some of the most prominent members of the Court had assaulted her home to discover how she nurtured her humans.

If the entire Night Court from every branch on the continent took part in the feast, the balance between the three factions would crumble and the undead world would belong to them. Unluckily, no one had returned to tell the tale.

That was how Kaelan had earned his rank, by filling an empty spot. Thrud just gave them her crumbs and they could only suck it up. Any more losses would reveal to the world that a whole branch of the Night Court was under the heel of a human woman.

"The place you are looking for is…

" Kaelan was cut short when a full body hologram of Manohar the size of a hill appeared in the sky, along with an equally big arrow pointing at a ruined outpost in the wilds.

"Come here, quick! You need my help.

" The colossus would say at fixed intervals, followed by fireworks visible from miles away.

Inxialot laughed like a madman, while Lith despite his exhausted state could hardly repress the urge to kill Kaelan first and Manohar second.

"Let me guess. I need to go there.

"