'Why do you think no one tried to catch your sister? When All Are One requires its members to stay close. If you break the formation, the array will disappear and we'll all die!
'It's your Dimensional Ruler spell that seals the enemy's dimensional magic just like it's Tessa's healing abilities that keep us alive. 'How long do you thing Quylla would last without all that and the six extra heads?
'You have one more sister to worry about.' Faluel said pointedly.
"Filly did warn you, sweetie. I thrive during wars. Corpses are just food and spells are just presents. Am I right?" Tessa's vines kept feeding off the bodies of the dead citizens to make up for the lost energy as the magical storm approached.
Everyone had just the time to follow Faluel's advice when the mass comprised of hundreds of spells plunged down on Thrud.
Domination made it so that the spells had Tessa's energy signature and thanks to the When All Are One array, it was shared by the rest of her group. Friya, Faluel, Quylla, and Fyrwal came out unscathed.
Thrud, her Divine Beasts, and a good portion of Ne'sra, instead, were smashed into oblivion.
The Arthan set and the magical equipment of the Generals disappeared last, recalled by the Golden Griffon and in dire need of repair.
"Aww, bummer!" Tessa pouted with a lovely expression that was in stark contrast with the blood and entrails in which she was covered. "No corpse. That damn Golden Griffon works like a charm.
"Oh, well. There's always next time." She shrugged.
"Oh, well?" Friya echoed in outrage. "How dare you 'oh, well' me? I-"
"Hold that thought." Tessa Hushed Friya's mouth and then conjured a Warping Array to get them at a great distance from Ne'sra.
"Now we have plausible deniability for the massacre and the wanton destruction.
"Thrud is going to have a hard time explaining to her subjects why she killed so many people during the invasion." The Titania chuckled, treating the matter as a joke. "Now you can rant all you like without forcing me to kill more potential witnesses."
A snap of her fingers dispelled the Hush and the When All Are One array.
"You rude bitch! I'm going to-" Friya's strength faded along with the Spirit Array.
Her mana core was back to being bright blue, her body weighed like that of an athlete again, and the vines nourishing her body were gone.
"What you are going to do is faint, monkey." Tessa laughed at Friya's distress and fatigue. "Gods, this is hysterical. I have spent so much time away from pompous, self-righteous humans that now I find their idiocy funny."
"Tessa, they may be humans, but they are still my daughter's hatchlings." Fyrwal glared at the Titania.
"Don't tell me that you care for them, Fylly?" There was no trace of hilarity on the Titania's, face, only shock.
"Don't be ridiculous. Of course not!" The Elder Hydra replied in outrage. "Yet you are embarrassing me in front of my daughter."
"Oh, gods, Fanny, I'm so sorry." Tessa's voice was full of remorse, sounding sincere. "I'm being rude with your pets. I swear, I had completely forgotten that they belonged to you. Your mother is innocent, if you want to blame someone, blame me."
'Great.' Faluel rolled her eyes. 'Racism, contempt, and now she's speaking about Friya and Quylla like they are not even here. Scratch that, she's treating them as dumb creatures who look at Mogar with uncomprehending eyes.'
"Don't worry, aunt Tessa. Just be better from now on, okay?" She actually said.
"Okay." The Titania nodded, her demeanor all smiles again.
Valeron's companions had lived long enough to despise the humans, the Awakened Council, but most of all, the Kingdom. Even before joining Valeron, Tessa and Fyrwal had a dim opinion of all the above due to how people had treated them their whole life.
Yet they had fought tooth and nail alongside the First King, believing in his dream. They had put their lives at stake countless times for the lands that now were called the Griffon Kingdom and the people who lived there.
In hindsight, they considered Valeron's opus a colossal waste of time. First Arthan, then the political corruption, and lastly the incompetence of the past rulers that had caused the Kingdom to lose territories made them want to puke.
To make matters worse, the death of Valeron, Juria, and Oghrom, had only made the Hydra and the Titania more resentful and sourer. They had fought for a dream that had turned into a mediocre outcome and for people who had willingly abandoned them.
The late members of Valeron's party had chosen to die, something for which Fyrwal and Tessa resented their late friends even after 700 years.
"Valeron's companion or not, you are an asshole!" Quylla used her spell, Injection, to pump tonics and nutrients inside both her and Friya's bloodstream. "You killed innocent people for shit and giggles. You destroyed houses that meant the world to their owners.
"You tried to kill our sister, yet here you are, laughing and going 'oh, well' like this is all a sick joke to you. I wanted to thank you for rescuing us, but you don't deserve any gratitude. Only a solid ass-kicking."
"I'd like to see you try, monkey." Tessa moved so fast that she was a blur, lifting Quylla by the neck with one hand. "I don't need your gratitude because I didn't save you, I just needed five people for my array.
"You and your sister having a shred of talent was just a happy coincidence. As for the city, nothing I did was for 'shit and giggles'. Wars are fought on multiple levels, not only on the battlefield.
"My actions raised the morale of the Kingdom, lowered Thrud's, and they will make it much harder for her to keep her reputation as a savior. Today, I defeated the Mad Queen three times
"Tell me, monkey. What did you achieve today aside from throwing a tantrum?"
Quylla had many things to say, but her nigh-crushed throat kept her from emitting more than squeaks.
"Aunt Tessa!" Faluel said.
"I'm sorry, bad habits die hard." The Titania said while letting Quylla go. "Unlike monkeys." She mumbled under her breath.
"What about Phloria?" Friya asked, now capable of speaking after using Invigoration and consuming lots of potions.
"I beg your pardon?" The Titania tilted her head in confusion.
"You have an explanation for everything." Friya wheezed, her eyes droopy but she refused to faint. "Then please, tell me the reason you tried to kill my sister."
"I was proving a point." Tessa became serious. "I wanted to show Arthan's daughter that she has no hold over me. That her hostage strategy is pointless. This way, I made sure that she actually cares for Phloria.
"Were she just a pawn, Thrud would have not hesitated to have Phloria die by my hand. Instead, Thrud had Phloria fly away and even gave her a bodyguard. It means that Thrud is smarter than I thought and that Phloria has yet to fulfill whatever her role is in the Mad Queen's plans.
"Your sister is safe. For now. That's the only reason you should thank me."
