Meanwhile, in Deirus's bedroom, Jirni had just finished calling for backup and Balkor had left for the Desert.

"Just one question. How are we going to explain your puppet stabbing Velan to death in his sleep and the god of death's presence?" Orion asked, his voice as stone-cold as his gaze while he spoke to his wife.

"Your naivety never ceases to amuse me, dear." Jirni said with a chuckle. "After the events at the funeral, the Royals gave me the authorization to kill Velan. Deal with the undead or not, he was too deranged.

"Now that he had lost his political power, the Royals could finally get rid of him without the risk of escalating the conflict in a civil war. They only asked me to leave enough traces so that the investigation would shift the blame on the undead.

"Of course, with his confession recorded, I have no need to plant evidence anymore." Jirni showed Orion several documents with no names that had been acquired while searching the houses of traitorous nobles that dealt with the Undead Courts that the Royals had ordered her to hid in Velan's quarters after doing the deed.

"As for Balkor, I edited that part. That's why I asked you for a "special" recording device. Someone might discover my tampering, but I'm confident that no one will look too deep in the matter. It's a calculated risk." She replied.

"Like lying to me? Like persuading our daughters to follow your crazy plan?" He said.

"Please, as if they could be trusted. They are as emotional as you and awful actresses at that. I kept them in a stasis pod ever since the gala. Do you remember how you complained about us taking a long time to get changed?" Jirni said.

"Are you telling me that I've lived the last few days with meat puppets? That Friya and Phloria have been your prisoners all along?" Orion's knees buckled up, forcing him to lean against a wall to keep standing.

"Of course. The sealed stasis pods ensure that if anything happens to our children's puppets, their magical items will lose their imprint just like it happened with Quylla's." Jirni nodded while making sure that no image of Balkor or of his mysterious powers remained.

"I couldn't risk their lives in the case that Deirus attempted to kill them as well and I needed you guys to play your part at the funeral. He needed to see your sincere grief to believe that he had beaten me for good.

"That's why I made them stay home the whole time, keeping them from meeting Lith and Faluel. I couldn't risk them discovering that there was something wrong with their bodies."

"Well, honey, yours is an amazing plan. Yet there's something that I'm certain even you have failed to predict." Orion said while inhaling sharply in outrage.

"What?"

"I want a divorce and I want it yesterday. Don't bother coming back. I'll send your stuff to the Myrok." The god of the forge warped away after saying to Archon Jirni Ernas things that were too painful even for her to withstand, making her faint on the spot.

***

Gorgon Empire, the city of Nestamaath, Capitol of the Empire, Leegaain's lair.

The sun rose soon after Deirus's death, waking Jormun up with its light. Dragons had a mental fortitude on par with that of their body, yet if not for Leegaain's soothing presence by his side, the Emerald Dragon wouldn't have recovered so much and so quickly.

"Good morning, son." Leegaain said. "Breakfast?"

"Thanks, Dad. I'm starving." Jormun nodded.

After a hearty meal, Jormun felt better and strong enough to ask for his father's help.

"I know that I promised Thrud to not expose her presence until the baby is born, but I was out of my mind back then, and endangering countless lives just to keep my word is something that only a kid would do." He said.

"What are you going to do, then?" Leegaain asked.

"I thought that coming to you made it pretty obvious. I'll stay here until I recover and I'll give you the information that Tyris needs to stop Thrud before it's too late." The Emerald Dragon said.

"Son, I think you are still out of your mind and don't think clearly. Guardians don't work like that." The Father of all Dragons replied.

"What do you mean?"

"The mind link already gave me everything I need. You can just focus on your recovery. As for Tyris, I'm going to inform her, but if she shares my opinion, she will not intervene in this matter as I wouldn't if it had taken place in the Empire."

"What? Why?" Jormun was flabbergasted.

Leegaain opened a mind link with his fellow Guardian in reply, letting his son take part in the conversation.

"What is the hatchling doing there and why isn't he chained?" Tyris asked the moment she noticed that Jormun was not only free, but he also still wore the equipment that Thrud had crafted for him.

Leegaain shared Jormun's memories with her, forcing him to face them without reliving them, before answering her question.

"Chains are not needed because he's finally free, yet my son is still unwell. He'll need some time to recover from the consequences of the slave spell that the Golden Griffon put him under."

"Poor kid." Tyris caressed the Emerald Dragon while giving him a warm motherly smile. "If there's anything I can do to help either of you, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thanks for your understanding." Leegaain nodded.

"Wait a minute. That's it?" Jormun was flabbergasted. "Why aren't you sounding the alarm and alerting the Royals about Thrud's plan?"

"Because it would be pointless." Tyris replied. "As she pointed out, your knowledge is actually a poisoned fruit. If she started preparing for battle right after you left, not only would it take me quite some time to assemble enough troops, but I would also lead them into a trap.

"The Golden Griffon resisted centuries of attempts to destroy it even back when it was filled solely with mindless monsters and without a master. There's no telling what the lost academy is capable of now that it has a capable leader at the head of immortal seasoned warriors who have now been Awakened."

Jakra opened his mouth only to realize how foolish he had been. Only the power of a Guardian might be able to take on such a powerful force.

"Aren't you going to kill her yourself?" He asked.

"No. Not now that I understand why Mogar asked us to let Thrud go." Tyris shook her head.

"Are you sitting on your thumbs just because of an order? What are you, slaves?" Jormun said in outrage.

"Son, when someone smarter, wiser, and millions of years old gives you an advice, the best thing you can do is listen to them. Mogar doesn't give orders but they don't even share all of their knowledge with us, otherwise Fenagar and I would be useless." Leegaain replied.

"Then why?"

"Because her plan is brilliant." Tyris said while sighing with sadness. "That girl is no genius, but she's the greatest hard worker that I ever met."

The Guardian pointed at Jormun's equipment before conjuring a hologram that quickly recapped Thrud's scheme.

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