"Crises unite people but once they are resolved, petty issues are magnified until they tear everything apart. When our continent rises from its ashes, I want it to be a better Jiera. Not just the same old shit waiting to fall apart." Roghar said.

"Well, you are still an idiot, but a wiser idiot than I thought." Zagran nodded, puffing her chest out with pride. "You've seen Eycos, didn't you? That was my son. He kicked your ass like it was nothing, Fenagar."

"That's what you are proud of?" The Leviathan was flabbergasted.

"What else should I be proud of? You?" She scoffed. "My lost son has grown into a fine Garuda. It's much more important than two lesser Guardians, don't you agree?"

"Please, don't call us that." Roghar groaned. "The Master was goading me and I fell for it like an idiot. If the other Guardians know, they'll never let us hear the end of it and that will become our nickname."

"I know." Zagran nodded. "That's why I've already shared everything with Salaark. Our Garlen brethren need to be ready for what's to come and you idiots need to be reminded of your failures.

"Stop messing with the children of others, Roghar," She scowled. "Lith, Zoreth, Eycos, and the rest are none of your business. Be better or the next time I might turn my back on you."

***

"Order and Chaos. Our children have become terribly strong." Leegaain said while rolling back the footage of the fight to watch it again from a different angle.

"Indeed. Maybe even too powerful." Ileza, Guardian of Life and Mother of All Bastets said. "Still, I can't believe my Theseus is not only sane again but that he also didn't hesitate to sacrifice himself to save someone else."

Tyris had established a mind link with her as well and healed Ileza from her affliction. The Griffon Guardian had neither forgiven nor forgotten the Bastet for her interference but with the Organization on the rise, the Guardians of Garlen needed all the help they could get.

"It still freaks me out seeing a Phoenix and a Garuda going along so well." Salaark grumbled. "What impresses me the most, however, is your daughter, old lizard. The old fox has always been strong but Zoreth?

"For a brief moment, she exceeded even the most powerful towerless white core I've ever faced. Had Zagran underestimated Zoreth or not worn her Guardian equipment from the start, things could have gotten ugly."

"I agree, but only because Roghar and Fenagar were in dire need of protection." Tyris shook her head. "Were Zagran to take care solely of herself, there was little risk involved.

"The Eldritches have realized their limits by fighting the World Tree whereas the Guardians of Jiera have only gotten cocky with time. While the Eldritches prepared to face the Ygdrasill's trap, Roghar foolishly jumped into the Eldritches' trap.

"The World Tree is as strong as we are only inside his domain and surrounded by his arrays. Roghar had no such thing. He was unprepared and the biggest reason he lost is because he didn't expect the Eldritches to have such good teamwork.

"As for Fenagar, I could write a book about the mistakes he made, and it would be a long one." She sighed.

"Let's be honest, we are used to fighting everything and everyone." Leegaain said. "Yet even the most powerful individuals on Mogar pose little threat to a Guardian. White cores don't help each other. Mages with towers hide and think solely about themselves. "Eldritches do all of the above. At least until now. None of us has ever dealt with a group of powerful individuals who trusted and protected each other as the hybrids did. You trounced Tezka, young sparrow, but you were on your turf and one on one.

"What if Tezka and Orulm worked together and played it smart? What if they also brought the Master along and his Spirit Magic? How would the fight have gone then?" "I believe I would have still won." Salaark's face twisted in a displeased grimace. "But I don't think it would have been easy nor would I have come out unscathed. Of course, only if I didn't call my children or you guys for help."

"Of course." Tyris nodded. "But would you have put your children in danger like that? Traded hundreds of their lives for an easy victory?"

"No." Salaark admitted. "But I would have called you and Leegaain for sure the moment I smelled Orulm. The guy has one trick but it's a dangerous one. Even for us Guardians."

***

Grand Duchy of Essagor, Vastor Household, at the same time.

"We did it!" Orulm the Breaker popped the cork of vintage wine and poured it into glasses for everyone. "I still had a couple of shots in me. If that damn snake hadn't intervened, I would be the first Guardian Slayer in Mogar's history."

"Except the mission was never about killing Roghar: Vastor accepted the glass of wine but still maintained a lecturing tone. "Our objective was capturing, studying, and sampling him. What's more important, your pride or the mission?"

"The mission, My Liege." Orulm lowered his head and remembered how precarious his position in the Organization was.

I can't believe I was once the strongest Eldritch on Mogar and now those two surpass me.' He looked at Xenagrosh and Tezka in envy.

"How did the mission go?" Bytra joined them the moment Zoreth's amulet became available again. "By looking at your faces I'd say it was a success, but I see no hogtied

Guardian."

"No, but we got the next best thing." Theseus smirked as his arms stretched into long vines.

Each dropped a pile of fur, scales, flesh, and bottles of blood.

"Why two piles? They look the same to me. She asked.

"They are not." The Bastet shook his head. "The left pile is the corrupted materials I collected after Orulm's Break had hit the Guardians. The right pile instead is pure. The flesh, blood, and everything they dropped while their life forces were intact.

"I know you asked me to take only untainted materials, Master, but Guardian ingredients are still Guardian ingredients. You can use them to study how Chaos affects Guardians and compare the results with their pure counterpart.

"Once you are done with the corrupted materials, Bytra can use them for her

prototypes."

"Excellent thinking, Theseus. Vastor nodded. "You've gotten quite a haul while pretending to restrain those losers- Zoreth, is everything alright?"

The Shadow Dragon had been panting since their escape but it was normal due to the aftereffects of merging her life forces forcefully. Yet the Master had taken a long detour to avoid being tracked and she was supposed to have partly recovered. Zoreth looked even worse than when she was on Jiera, instead. Her face had gone pale first and was slowly turning green, something impossible for a Shadow Dragon. "No, I feel like sh-" A dry heave cut her short, quickly followed by puking her guts out. Pain shook the Shadow Dragon's body. Her head felt like someone had planted explosives all over her brain and was detonating them in a domino effect. Her ears seemed about to burst and her eyes hurt so much that she saw white.