Supreme Magus

Chapter 3472 Too Easy (Part 1)

?Chapter 3472 Too Easy (Part 1)

Phaso had summoned the entirety of the Horde race to share the blessing of the World Tree with them. To solve the reproductive issue that plagued their race since the first fungus had gained sentience.

Those two feats were supposed to be enough to earn the eternal loyalty of the Hordes. To be hailed as their savior and become the leader of what would have soon become Mogar's master race.

Yet his so-called friends had betrayed him. Millennia of camaraderie had fallen in the face of prejudice and fear. They called him mad because they were too stupid or scared to see the glorious future to which he would have led them.

'So close. I got so close to my dream.' Phaso could only grit his spores and bear with it. "I yield." He said. "Take my fragment, I don't care anymore. Remember this, my brothers. When this man will keep the knowledge for himself and use it to achieve the power I was going to bestow upon you, history will judge us all.

"We'll be remembered as a gutless race that Verhen extinguished to protect Mogar from the evil Hordes while Tiamats will be hailed as warrior saints. Truth doesn't matter. Legends and records are written by the victors.

"Given enough time, the end will always justify the means."

Phaso's words were full of bitterness and anger, but they held a harsh truth the Hodres couldn't ignore. They exchanged looks and joined their mass into communion without dispelling the Spirit Barrier.

"Don't listen to him." The Eyes of Menadion spotted no offensive spells being weaved, but Lith and his allies were still outnumbered and trapped inside the Hordes' barrier. "I'm not going to keep the Yggdrasill's essence for myself.

"I don't know what I'll do with it but I know this kind of power is too dangerous for anyone to wield, even me. The Sapling entrusted me with recovering the fragments and cleansing them from the World Tree's madness and that's what I plan to do.

"Once my task is completed, I'm willing to discuss my next move with you."

"Once your task is completed, you have no reason to return here and we have no way to force you to keep your word." Loma said. "On top of that, after listening to Phaso's rant, I wouldn't trust our judgment if I were in your shoes."

'Fuck me sideways if Loma got smarter since Urgamakka, Lith inwardly cursed. 'He saw through me. I have no intention of letting anyone, not even the Council, catch so much as a glimpse of the Tree's complete essence. I just want to get out of here without more pointless fighting.

"Don't worry, Verhen. That wasn't the issue that needed discussing" Ygri, the silvery

fog, said. "You trusted us when this crisis started and we'll trust you to put an end to it."

"Then what's the matter? You guys don't have faces but I can feel the tension in the room." Lith asked.

"You said that after the procedure Phaso will be alive and well. Only his memory of the time he spent as a vessel of the Yggdrasill will be lost, correct?" Zarta, the black swarm, said and Lith nodded in reply. "That won't do, Verhen."

"What do you mean?" Lith's eyes narrowed while everyone else's went wide in surprise, none more than Lotho.

"What Zarta is trying to say is that we can't allow Phaso to survive." Shen, the grey mist, sighed. "Killing one of our own is the greatest taboo for our race, but from time to time it has to be done. From today onwards, only seven Hordes will walk Mogar."

"What?" Phaso yelled in disbelief. "Why? You heard him. The silvery flame will cleanse me. I'll be back to my old self."

"Your old mask, you mean. Loma's orange spores condensed in a replica of Lith's appearance, a sign of respect in the Horde's culture. "There has always been something wrong about you, but until today I couldn't put my hive mind on it."

"The story of Esor proves that the contagion doesn't alter the personality of the Yggdrasill's host, Phaso. Quite the contrary, it forces them to reveal their true mettle." Shen turned into a grey Lith.

"Esor had to bear the most disgusting and fearsome knowledge on Mogar." Zarta followed suit, becoming a black Lith. "Yet they refused to spill even one word of it. Esor protected their people and friends. The Sapling didn't look for a quick payout.

"Esor looked for help and without their quick thinking, we would still be here listening to your nonsense."

"Even worse, we might have fallen for it."

"Phaso didn't hesitate to spread his knowledge and tried to use us as his test subjects, Verhen." The blurred red figure introduced themselves as Xar and took Lith's appearance. "He offered us power but in truth, he betrayed us all."

"Even with his last words, Phaso made his real intentions clear" Cordi, the pale-yellow mist, said. "He never thought of us as his equals. He always wanted to rule over us. He has not attempted it in the past only because he lacked the means to control us.

"He pretended to be like us and hid his ambition because he couldn't face the other races alone. A Horde can't reproduce, but we are beings of infinite life and power. Such gifts can't be left in the spores of people like Phaso.

"If he ever chances upon something as dangerous as the World Tree's essence, he'll use it again but the next time he will be smarter. He won't seek our help and we won't

he nhle to ston him hafore it's ton Inte"

Cordi's spores condensed into a life-seized yellow Lith.

"The sentence is unanimous. Phaso must die." The Hordes said as one. "Use your blue flames. We allow it. If one good thing will come out of this abomination, is that you and us will learn how your blue flames work."

Lith had no problem with that, but the decision wasn't up to him alone. He turned towards Solus, taking her feelings into consideration before making up his mind.

"I don't like this." She said. "I don't like you tapping into that power or killing someone, even Phaso, in cold blood."

The Horde was trapped and helpless. It was no longer a fight but an execution. "But the Hordes are right. He can't be allowed to live and there's no point risking you to be infected. Phaso is not like Esor. He might attack you while you are focused on Body Sculpting and controlling the Dread Flames.

"He could harm you, or worse, spread the infection to one of us and trigger another fight by adding his own madness to the Tree's. Use the blue flames, but please, be

careful."

"Don't worry about us, Verhen." Lotho said. "The Council only worries about Awakened as a whole. We never interfere with the customs of another race. This is a Horde

matter. Just tell us how to protect ourselves."

"There's not much to say." Lith replied. "Blue flames burn at everything, even me. Just

keep them from spreading and be careful not to let them touch you."

Everyone nodded and took their position when Lith drew their attention.