Supreme Magus novel Chapter 4290

Chapter 4290: Malignant Parasite (Part 2)

"Ask, and I will provide according to my possibilities." The Black Throne replied. "Within reason, of course."

"I have put together several squads of good mages." Jorl said. "They are the best fighters I could find among the Upyr ranks, and they have great tactical minds. Yet they are not the first I trained, and many of their predecessors died too easily for my taste.

"I’ve reviewed the footage of all the fights the Upyr army had, and I’ve come to the conclusion that we have a problem even bigger than Orpal’s influence on us. Most of the Upyrs are plant folk who were the size of a human or slightly larger."

Many Fae and plant folk easily reached three meters (6’7") or height, and a few of them could even surpass the 10 meters (33’), but the smallest Divine Beast would always be about 20 meters (66’) tall upon reaching the blue.

Compared to that, the biggest Fae looked like a scrawny child.

"Even if my soldiers come from powerful Awakened families, their equipment becomes completely useless the moment they assume their Upyr form. They grow in size and power, but that comes at the cost of their weapons and best means of protection.

"Lesser Divine Beasts suffer from this problem as well. Learning the secret of the violet makes them stronger and bigger, but what’s the point of that if you can’t make use of your new reach because you have to maintain your old size?

"Those who have yet to take part in the war, like Erion, could go back to their families and ask for new equipment, but no one would ever give away so many resources without an excellent reason.

"Revealing their allegiance to the Dead King would only earn a Lesser Divine Beast a free set of Adamant chains and to be brought before the Council to be judged."

"Get to the point." The Black Throne snarled.

"As I said, I need your help." Jorl replied. "Recruiting Upyrs loyal to me is a waste of time if they end up dying like flies on the battlefield. I need magical metals and crystals, and lots of them at that.

"It’s the only way to give those loyal to my cause the means to survive and make them indebted to me. Consider it an investment.

"We’ll strengthen our side bit by bit with a proper cover story, and when the moment to face Orpal comes, our soldiers will be armed to the teeth, whereas the Dead King’s goons will still be wearing rags. Many birds with one stone."

"More like many birds with a mountain of Adamant. My Adamant!" The cursed tower scoffed. "Save your silver tongue for someone who can fall for it, my apprentice.

"I haven’t missed how you tried to entice me by calling the Upyrs loyal to you ’our soldiers’. I have no soldiers and never will. I am the only army I’ll ever need, and no amount of flattery will convince me otherwise."

The awkward pause that followed gave Jorl the time to curse his own hubris and wonder whether it was Orpal’s blood that had led him to try such a foolish approach or if he was getting too used to hanging out with idiots.

"Still, your idea has merit, and I appreciate that you have such a high consideration of my means. I don’t possess that much Adamant, my apprentice. I’m bound to my tower, and there is no such thing as an enchantment that allows you to sow magical resources or grow them like potatoes.

"I can help *you*." The grating voice of the cursed tower put emphasis on the last word. "I have all the Adamant you’ll need to craft your equipment once you reach the bright violet, apprentice, but I won’t waste a single chunk of ore for your pawns.

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