"I appreciate that." Friya gave the Titania a deep bow. "Now my parents can rest easy. With your help, it's only a matter of time before-"
"Slow down, kid." Tessa cut her off. "I'm done helping you. If there's anything today's events proved is that you two can't fight a Divine Beast. The next time Phloria comes out, it will be another trap and you two lack the means to turn it around.
"Leave the rescue to the professionals. Fylly and I will do whatever is necessary. You just go home and rest."
"With all due respect, why?" Quylla had noticed how the Titania had upended her attitude after Friya had politely addressed her so she did the same. "I'm a Light Master and my sister is a seven-streaked dimensional mage.
"We can f- I mean, we can be useful to you. Please."
Tessa's face twisted and twitched. She was deeply conflicted between her spite for humans and the pride of never having stooped down to their level. At least when they behaved. It would mean being even worse than them.
"Because you are weak, child." She huffed out. "Yes, you two are talented. Yes, you two have some nice tricks, but that's it. I could have done almost everything you two provided to our team with either Domination or Spirit Magic.
"I could have used When All Are One on anyone and the result for me would have been the same. If I really have to choose a party member, I'd rather pick a Divine Beast like your friend Lith.
"He too has Domination, Light Mastery, and we could use a few bloodline abilities. Abilities that humans lack. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Yes." Quylla and Friya clenched their hands in frustration.
"Good." Tessa nodded. "Two more things. Following us would put you in danger and if that happens, we'd not rescue you. Bear in mind that I wouldn't be here if Fylly hadn't asked me and Phloria wasn't a descendant of both Juria and Oghrom.
"No offense, but you girls don't have a drop of my friends' blood. You are Ernas in name only."
When even Fyrwal nodded, the two girls just wanted to cry, hating their bodies for belonging to the wrong bloodline.
"Don't despair, child, there's always a silver lining." The Titania patted Friya's shoulder. "There's still the second point. Also, you are welcome."
The physical contact triggered a burst of aura from Friya's body.
A burst of bright blue mana whose edges burned with a deep violet light.
"Congratulations." Fyrwal gave her a small bow. "Keep working hard and one day you might be as good as Juria."
The two elder women Warped away, leaving the others in deep thought. Despite Friya's breakthrough and Thrud's defeat, no one felt in the mood for celebrations.
***
City of Lutia, Lith's house, later that day.
By the time Lith had finished his first mission, there was no trace of Phloria or the Golden Griffon so he hadn't returned home until he was done reconquering Thrud's occupied regions.
Kamila was there, welcoming him home. The Ernas family was there as well, waiting to share the latest developments with him via a mind link.
"I'm sorry, girls. I wish I was there with you." Lith couldn't think of anything else to say.
"The mission was a total bust." Friya sighed. "Phloria ran away and no one witnessed Thrud's defeat so it's like it never happened. Fyrwal grounded Faluel who in turn grounded us and my parents scolded us until our ears bled."
"You should thank the gods this isn't our house, young lady!" Orion brimmed with barely contained fury, his voice reduced to a snarl. "Your stunt almost cost you your free will. If it wasn't for Fyrwal and Tessa, you'd be fighting by Phloria's side by now.
"Phloria's situation is already driving me crazy. If you two were to join her, I don't think I could keep on living."
"You father is right." Jirni held his hand tight as Orion's outrage turned into despair. "What you did was reckless, and like Tessa said, pointless. I won't allow you to put yourself into danger again without a plan worthy of its name."
"Dear!" Orion blurted out in surprise.
"Don't you 'dear' me, dear." Jirni replied. "Our girls love our Phloria as much as we do. It would be hypocritical of us to try to stop them. In the same way, it would be stupid of them not to learn their lesson!"
She glared at their daughters who lowered their gazes in embarrassment.
"It's all my fault." Faluel gave Jirni and Orion a deep bow. "I believed that between our combined strength and careful planning, we could rescue Phloria. I underestimated Thrud and the importance she puts on your daughter."
"No need, to apologize, Lady Nyxdra." Orion shook his head. "We are not our ancestors, but the bond between the four founding pillars of the Kingdom transcends time. We are all friends and I'm grateful for what you tried to do.
"Tell your mother that I'm forever in her debt. She protected my little girls and even brought the Bewitching Demon with her. With those two on Thrud's tail, I believe we have a chance at rescuing Phloria."
"I'll let her know." Faluel replied.
"Also, the situation is actually better than you thought." Lith chimed in the moment he was sure he wouldn't meddle in family matters. "Today we have achieved two important goals.
"Thrud's defeat means that for a while she's out of the picture. To keep advancing at this speed, her army will need the Golden Griffon. The moment we learn about its position, I can sneak inside and either kidnap Phloria or attempt to destroy the power core.
"Until Thrud and her generals fully regenerate, there will be no one capable of stopping me. Last, but not least, Friya took her first step into the violet core by herself. I think congratulations are in order."
"Not really by myself." She blushed in embarrassment. "The When All Are One array temporarily granted me a bright violet core and the possibility to experience body casting.
"Once its effects faded, I discovered that I still remembered the enlightenment the array brought me."
"Just like merging with my Demons did for me in Kolga." Lith shrugged. "Considering that you are an Awakened only for a short while, it's still damn impressing."
"Yeah." Tista tried her best not pouting, but failed nonetheless. "Everyone cheats their way to violet but me. Lith with his Demons, Quylla with her natural violet core, and now Friya with a legendary array.
"I can't believe that I started first and I'm dead last."
"If it's of any consolation, I think that if you were in Friya's place today, you'd have stepped right into the violet. She was clueless whereas you have already found your path." Faluel said.
'It doesn't help at all.' Tista thought. 'On the contrary, it makes me even more envious. Yet there's no point acting like a child. Phloria is still in danger and her family is distraught. Compared to that, my problems are irrelevant.'
"Thanks, Faluel." She actually said. "What's our next move?"
"We keep attacking." Lith replied. "By taking her old regions we are cutting Thrud's retreat path."
