‘Now that the Eclipsed Lands have joined the fight, no matter which side Mom helps, she would end up killing her children. That’s why I stepped forward to help Vladion’s soldiers and she didn’t refuse me my steed when I asked her.

‘This is my way to make up to Mom for disappointing her so many times in the past few years. I’m keeping Thrud away from the Golden Griffon and protecting Vladion’s followers who offered to join the Kingdom’s diversion.’

Dawn had no idea that Baba Yaga was also deeply worried about Solus/Elphyn. The Red Mother had stayed her hand because she understood Mogar’s reasoning and because it would have hindered the path of her children.

Vladion reaching an agreement with the humans to protect his people was a huge step forward that might have led the two races to stop hating each other. Dawn putting her own agenda aside for someone else’s sake marked a new phase of her growth.

On top of that, the mission would help Lith to master his Abomination side and mend his relationship with the Kingdom. If Baba Yaga were to intervene, none of it would have been possible.

Her actions would have been interpreted akin to a divine intervention and nothing would have changed.

‘I see.’ Acala replied. ‘Your plan is to either defeat Thrud or at least weaken her to the point that once she goes back to the Golden Griffon, your cousin can deal with her on his own.’

‘You are wrong about the second part. I’m not planning to lose and neither should you. Even with my imprisonment, I still have hundreds of years of battle experience against all kinds of Divine Beasts.

‘I know that I can beat her, but only if you help me and stop second-guessing yourself. Can you do it for me?’ She asked.

‘Yes.’ Acala’s answer lacked conviction.

After their last defeat at the hands of the Mad Professor and seeing how Dawn was honoring his memory by adding his spells to her arsenal, the ex-Ranger couldn’t help but think that she had chosen the wrong host.

That just like Lith was likely to be Night’s perfect sword the late Manohar had been Dawn’s.

‘He was a Light Mastery genius on par with Dawn the likes of which are born once per century if not per millennium. Until someone like Manohar appears again, she’s just stuck with me.’ Acala thought in a deep corner of his mind.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Thrud was slowly getting up from the meters-deep crater that her fall had created. She took deep breaths without activating her breathing technique, she was just calming herself.

‘I suspected that something was wrong with the Horseman’s behavior and now I’m sure of it.’ Thrud thought while the energy of her white core fixed both her body and her armor at a speed visible to the naked eye.

‘She waited for my arrival first and now she’s waiting for my return. On top of that, I’ve asked for regular updates from my Generals and so far, this battle doesn’t make sense.’

Several notifications popped up inside her helm, alerting her of the many cities that were currently under siege.

‘The Kingdom’s forces are spread evenly, without a real target. They are pushing along the entire frontlines even though they know that this way they lack the strength to actually break through.

‘What really worries me is the Empire and Dawn both giving the Kingdom a hand. There must be a reason if they are putting me under such pressure and the only plausible explanation is that they want to keep me here.’ Thrud’s analysis was on point, but she failed to understand the enemy’s ploy because she considered the Golden Griffon impregnable.

‘Whatever their goal is, I need to take my head out of my ass and stop letting Dawn dictate the rhythm of the battle. No matter how powerful I am, it’s pointless if I fight like an amateur.’ She sighed deeply, knowing that someone was probably recording the battle.

Thrud had done her best to keep her bloodline abilities hidden until the final battle for the capital, but she knew that there was no way for her to defeat someone with a mage tower otherwise.

Two sets of golden feathered wings came out of her back, remaining visible for a second before the white of the Davross covered her like a second skin. Her hands turned into talons and the gloves of the armor shapeshifted accordingly to fit her body.

A single flap of her wings brought her back in front of the Horseman while also weaving several of her spells at the same time. The Mad Queen announced her return by swinging the Sword of Arthan and generating countless wind blades.

They were no spells, just the by-product of the pressure that her strength boosted by fusion magic and Life Maelstrom exerted. Yet they each held the power of a tier three spell and she just needed chore magic to further boost their edge.

The attack was nigh-invisible to Life Vision, the amount of mana they held eclipsed by the one that Thrud’s ascending figure emanated.

Dawn would have missed them entirely if not for the sudden updraft and her keen battle sense.

‘Whatever she’s doing, it must be part of a bigger scheme. Also, the fact that so little mana still manages to distort my regular vision means this is some kind of trick.’ The Bright Day thought and she was right.

The combined might of the Sword of Arthan and its wielder had generated the air pressure equivalent of a raising avalanche that would have swept her away had the Horseman remained still.

Sunrise answered her telepathic orders, moving like an extension of her body and so fast that the simple act of dodging generated a sonic boom.

‘Damn, that was supposed to create an opening and maybe even disrupt her focus.’ Thrud clicked her tongue in annoyance as she released her tier five Spirit Spell, Rainstorm.

It conjured a storm of emerald lightning that bypassed Dawn’s protection by drenching her in water. Even the tiniest drop that seeped inside her armor would use the earth and darkness aspect of Spirit Magic, turning itself into darkness-infused stone spikes that pierced through her body.

Light constantly healed Dawn’s wounds, sapping her stamina, while the fire aspect turned part of the rain into steam that burned her throat and lungs, sealing her breathing technique and making it impossible for her to use fake magic to hasten the weaving of slow spells like Blade Magic.

Rainstorm was already bad news but Thrud had done more than shapeshift into a hybrid form, she had also activated her bloodline ability, Phantom Echo. Any spell that she conjured via body casting resonated through her lungs and her hollow Griffon bones.

The runes literally generated an echo inside of her, causing an identical copy of the spell they formed to be conjured a split second after the original.

Dawn was still having trouble dealing with Rainstorm when a second emerald storm hit her like a tidal wave. She could block the pain with darkness fusion but the emerald lightning still caused her seizures, and the silver lightning infused inside both spells almost made her lose control of her abilities.

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