"These bastards still have a mole in high places, but not high enough." Brinja's sky-blue eyes burned with red mana as she took pictures of the map used by the undead and cross-referenced it with the clearance level necessary to access it.
Unfortunately for her, the Distars' magical talent seemed to have skipped a generation, leaving Brinja with no power of her own. Even after learning about the real role that Mirim had played within the Kingdom, Brinja had to content herself with becoming Lord Commander of the Corps.
Tyris had offered her to become one of her fake Awakened with the prospect of taking Mirim's position in due time, but Brinja had turned her down.
"My mother was a talented mage who spent her life honing her abilities. I'm too old for that and by the time I catch up with the rest of the Corpse, I would still lack combat experience." Brinja had replied.
"I'd rather entrust this honor to someone who deserves it and who won't be a burden to their companion. Besides, I'm the last member of the Distar household and I won't let my bloodline disappear with me."
Tyris and Sylpha had been forced to explain the truth to Brinja after she had risen to the rank of Lord Commander. The Corps and the Corpse needed to coordinate their actions and be aware of each other's plans.
Otherwise they would often waste time and manpower by protecting the same mark or their missions could overlap which would lead to friendly fire. While Mirim was alive, she commanded both units so such things had never been a problem.
Now, however, the Queen had to entrust Brinja with the existence of all black ops units and hope that her pride wouldn't get in the way of preserving her mother's legacy.
"That's not all." Lith shook his head while showing the interrogations one by one. "They also knew about all of my life forces and had come prepared for all of them. They had access to anti-Dragon and anti-Abomination spells.
"That part isn't public knowledge."
"That doesn't mean much." Farg shrugged. "Undead are old. They only need to trade for those spells with a Household desperate enough to ask for their help once to know how the Kingdom deals with such threats.
"As for your Abomination side, the story of the ghost girl and your chains has spread like wildfire despite our best efforts to cover it up. Also, don't forget that Meln ruled the Courts for a while. Whatever he knew about you, they also probably know."
"Point taken." Lith nodded.
"Why did you call us here?" Brinja asked after reviewing the footage once more and saving a copy for herself. "There's no impending threat and I doubt the undead will strike twice during the same night."
"Because I need your help." Lith replied. "The undead are right about many things. I was planning to hunt them down as soon as my body got accustomed to my new powers and Elysia got a bit older.
"I really wanted to enjoy this time with her and avoid fighting as much as I could. Now that the enemy has entered my home, I can't delay it any longer." Lith sighed. "I'm going to reforge my equipment anew and start the preparations to raid the Undead Courts."
The prisoners had shared with Lith the position of all the branches they were aware of just to make the pain stop.
"While I do that, however, my family will remain exposed. I need the Corps and the Corpse to focus solely on protecting my wife and my family. Elysia is untouchable whereas Kamila already has a bounty on her head.
"I'm afraid that while I'm busy with the undead, the instigator might exploit my absence and the security being stretched thin to strike." n))In
"I can understand Lady Verhen." Farg had already placed Kamila among those who required maximum protection after Leegaain had warned Lith about the repeated attempts on her life. "But why your family?
"There's nothing to gain from killing them and even Meln wants them alive to let them witness your fall."
"Because that's what I'd do if this was my plan." Lith replied. "The Courts already know how strong I am. After tonight, they'll assume that my Mansion is off-limits. Hence, they'll try to lure me somewhere they have the home advantage.
"The best way is a hostage, but killing them works too. Grief and rage would weaken me mentally, making me an easier prey. If the undead can't get to me, they'll get to those close to me and then leave a trail of breadcrumbs for me to follow.
"That was Meln's plan. It was a good plan and still is. Yet this time I know the who and where whereas the Undead Courts have no idea of what I can do now." Lith showed the position of the now-known branches.
"I don't plan on playing on the defense for long. This time I was lucky, the next things might go differently. With a bit of luck, the Undead Corts will never think that their assassins could be captured alive and forced to reveal what they knew.
"If I'm right, they'll just assume that the mission failed and let their operations continue as usual.
"If I'm wrong, instead, they'll evacuate the branches the assassins came from and once I get there I'll find them empty. If I'm very lucky, however, the Undead Courts will turn their hideouts into deathtraps and fill them with their best mages, hoping that I'm stupid enough to go there alone."
"How is that lucky?" Brinja furrowed her brows in confusion. "Eradicating a branch of the Undead Courts is already hard when they don't know you are coming. If they are prepared, even advancing one meter requires spilling blood.
"Not to mention that even if we power through their defenses, they are bound to have several escape plans at the ready. The Undead Corts have always been hard to eradicate because they don't hesitate to run away when they know they can't win."
"That's another reason I need your help." Lith replied. "I don't have enough Demons to storm a place packed with powerful undead and seal the perimeter at the same time. I want you to seal the exits so that I can focus my forces on a surgical strike.
seal the perimeter at the same time. I want you to seal the exits so that I can focus my forces on a surgical strike.
"Also, I consider the death trap the best-case scenario because it would save me a lot of time. To make sure to take me down, the Undead Courts will amass their most powerful members into a few locations, allowing me to kill them all in a few fell swoops.
"I called you here because I can't move everyone to the Desert without letting the Courts know that I'm aware of their intentions. They must keep thinking that I believe tonight's assault to be an isolated incident.
"So, reinforce security for my family in general and on my wife in particular during my absence. Once I'm done with my preparations, I'll hit the Undead Courts so hard and so fast that by the time the news of the attack spreads, I'll have already moved on to the next branch and keep catching them off guard."