With two of the invaders out, Ethan's worries began creeping through his thoughts. How many had died? Who had they lost? He'd seen most of his people, but he hadn't seen Liz. And he really hadn't stopped to see the state of the others.

Ethan shook his head, cutting off the train of thoughts as he turned his attention back to the invaders ahead. He didn't pay attention to their faces, and even though the barrier was gone, he watched as they spread out below him when he approached, readying themselves to face him. A quick scan around didn't tell him much, but the destruction wrought still pinched at his heart. They'll look into the state of things when this will be all over. For now, as he descended in a smoldering patch of burnt and upturned soil, far enough from his own people, he waited as the raiders of the Brotherhood carefully swarmed and encircled him, some quietly, and some with quite a bit of ruckus as they jeered and taunted.

He looked around for a second, not even bothering to look at the spears, wands and shields pointed toward him. "The first one that agrees to lead me to your settlement gets to live."

There was a silent beat before the first chuckle reached his ears. He gazed around and saw the faces laughing at him. Saw a few that were frowning and tightening their grips on their weapons. And a few that were backing away. Those might survive.

"Kill the bastard," a man with a half-missing ear and a mohawk shouted, and the clamor grew louder for half a second before the world was engulfed in burning white light as Ethan released the damage and flames that had built up in [Emberborn Heart]. It wasn't that much, as it was mostly from the tail-end of the last rift, but it was plenty, and the notification flashed into his interface, one after another as the invaders were turned to a crisp. Through the blaze, he even thought he felt a couple of impacts on his scales, but the flames had weakened them so much that there wasn't much left by the time they reached him.

And it's not as if punching through his scales was easy, nowadays.

When the flames and light faded, smoking remains were left in the crowd of twenty or so invaders. Beyond them, a handful were stumbling away, screaming in pain, while a couple were booking it. Running for the hills.

"Capture these," he called out to the harried but relieved Amanda, then flew after the runners while his eyes scanned the ground. There had been that invisible bastard in his last interaction with the Brotherhood, though there was no sign of him as far as he could see.

The first man he caught up with had actually been the one who'd shouted to kill him. The one with the mohawk. "Please! We were just following—"

The lance tore through his heart, and a fireball finished up the job before he followed the second runner.

***

By the time Ethan was done with the runners, he felt… empty. Tired. And he kept bracing for the guilt of killing so many to creep up on him, but it never did. Especially not when he finally got a good look at the people of New Dawn and how… distraught they all looked. Some were relieved. Some vindicated. Some pained and crying. A few sobs ran here and there, and he could see already some trying to pull people from under the wrecked buildings.

His people.

"How bad is it," he asked Amanda when he flew down, ignoring the encircled four intruders that had surrendered as soon as the bulk of them were dead.

Amanda had already been going around, barking orders and briskly comforting those who needed it. She wasn't putting a lot of weight on her foot, and as he gazed around, he saw most healers busy with much more severe injuries. Amelie was bent over a delirious and beaten Liz.

"She noticed them first. They tried to capture her and they rained spells on her back before she managed to get to us. Poisoned, I think," Amanda said, shuffling closer to him. She was trying to stay up, but he could see the tremor in her shoulders and legs. She was one nudge away from collapsing.

Ethan wasn't sure how [Heal] exactly worked, if he needed to make contact, but he tried casting it with his eyes, considering the spell was within the Arcanum of Forms. A green hue filled his vision as mana surged through him, and his brows furrowed. The spell was burning more mana than he had expected, but it was effective.

Relief washed over the woman as she sagged for a second before she stood straighter, tapping her once-injured leg on the ground a couple of times

"Thanks. Really appreciate it," she said, and it was as if she tried to smile, but the muscles of her face refused to do so. She glanced behind her, and sighed. "We knew this could happen, but I didn't expect a coordinated thing between the two. Not after the Union had been talking to us barely a couple of hours before this all started. I don't know how many we lost as I've been busy holding up the defense, but we'll… recover," she said, swallowing as she balled her hands in a fist.

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Ethan nodded. "They will pay," he said, eyes darting to the captives. "I might not go scorched earth on the Union's cities, but the Brotherhood is done. I'll be taking over the Union. Today. And then we'll decide on how to handle what comes next because I don't know if we can trust them like our own."

Amanda nodded, her eyes flitting about as she thought things through. "I think… I think it might be worth addressing the whole thing with their council. I have a feeling not all might have been onboard with allying with the Brotherhood, so turning those to our side will ease the transition. I can send them a message to bring out their governing body at the gates before you start anything?"

Ethan listened, then nodded. "Yeah. That'll work. I'll swing by Wyldrock and make sure everything's fine, deal with the Brotherhood, then go to the Union. We still have the two captives there?"

Amanda nodded. "Yes, but you don't need to see them. They talked. The Union's main settlement is in Providence, around fifty miles south. But they've established at least 8 settlement between here and there. They've been focusing on spreading north before consolidating and taking over the south. We'll talk more about all of that later," she added, glancing around, and Ethan decided it was time to let her work.

"I'll be going, then. And you should get some rest soon," he reminded her. After this was all over, he'd need to review a few things with her and with the others. But he was happy they handled themselves well in his absence.

She gave him a nod and was about to head back toward the others when he stopped her.

"Wait."

She paused, and Ethan nodded toward the four. "Can you tell me anything about these?"

Her brows furrowed for a second, then as her gaze flicked toward the three defeated men and a woman, turning into a hateful glare.

"They were having a good time. Same as everybody else," she spat out, and Ethan nodded, a little relieved. Killing those who were fighting him or actively preparing to attack were much easier than those who surrendered. But when those who surrendered were guilty, it made things easier.

Ethan took a calming breath, then headed to the captives of the Brotherhood. They cowed when they saw him approach, some mumbling something he couldn't hear as he moved a couple of things in his Arcanums. Mainly coupling [Pressurized Stream] with [Water Jet]. One of the captives was about to say something, but the words died in his mouth when Ethan spoke, sensing the empowering magic of the horns run down his arms.

"I'll repeat what I said earlier," he simply said. "The one who shows me to the Brotherhood's pylon gets to live."

The woman grit her teeth. "We surrendered. What kind of—"

A thin, pressurized stream shot out of Ethan's claw, pierced through her head and splashed on the soil behind her. A beat later, she fell to her side.

"Anyone else?"

The three men froze for a second before they started shouting one over the other, and Ethan picked the first one who answered his question before disposing of the other two. A middle-aged, fit, olive-skinned man with no shirt on and only red harem pants.

"Let's go."

***

With the man firmly grasped by the arms with his talons, Ethan made a quick stop at Wyldrock and learned that their casualties were minimal, though many of their casters needed rest. The force of the Union had suffered heavy casualties, but from the three leaders, two had survived. One was still captured, but the caster—the woman who'd seen him arrive—had managed to teleport away from her confinement when she had woken up, before promptly disappearing.

Annoying, but her escape wouldn't matter in the long term. Plus, unlike the Brotherhood, the Union had somehow made their assault civil.

With that done, Ethan flew up and fast, heading south at the instruction of his guide. The man tried to strike a conversation a couple of times, but Ethan just ignored and flew until the forest that hid the Brotherhood's location came into view. Within a wide clearing that must have some sort of retreat in the woods, the pylon shone with eerie purple lights, surrounded by a few lit cabins.

"There. I did what you asked. Please—"

"That's the only settlment you guys have?"

"Yes. Zachary wanted to focus on strength before we started expanding, so—"

"Did this Zachary come with you all or did he stay back?"

"He stayed back, just in—"

Ethan channeled mana into the talons and electrocuted the man, then followed it up with a pressurized jet through the top of his head. When the notification rang, he let him drop before swooping low, his eyes scanning. And it was a good thing he was keeping an eye out, as no sooner had he begun his descent, he noticed a glowing shape break out of the tree-line and run south.

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