Ventelu, Solqulo, and Nestres emerged from the ruins. Their frames were weary and shaken up. Nobody had any armor equipped, just casual attire.
"Somebody pushed Ketra to her final stand... but who?" Solqulo's voice was low and unmotivated.
"Hitirus. I sensed a new Heir just a few hours ago, but now this confirmed their existence. This blast should've ended many Noble Minds and King Khantretakhim herself," Nestres paused.
A feeling of regret for not acting sooner crept into his mind. Yet he knew better than to let his feelings dictate his next judgement.
"Solqulo, start rebirthing rituals to regrow what was lost on Coshire. Trees, forests, creatures, Variants, everything needs to be replaced," Nestres ordered.
Right after his Heir finished speaking, Solqulo left to start working on his order. The city became nothing more than fields of ash, with tattered memories left sorely sticking out.
"Ventelu, fly around Coshire and look over what was lost. I'll stay here and make sure Fruzzy and Ketra start manifesting," Nestres ordered again.
Unlike Solqulo, Ventelu stood there. Looking at Nestres with a confused stare, almost questioning if confirming something would take long enough to be considered a task.
"Don't worry, I won't waste my time. After I reviewed their bodies, I'll start tracing sigils designed to enhance this region's recovery," Nestres explained.
After hearing what he wanted to hear, Ventelu waved off into the distance. Causing his Sky Beast to come barreling down from nowhere, bow in its beak.
Ventelu mounted the creature, then picked up his weapon. And together, they erupted out of the area with enough force to cause Solqulo's and Nestres' ears to ring.
Green symbols danced and disappeared around Solqulo's hands. The Thawed icons represented a link to a chain, a crushed leaf, and the hand of a trooper reaching up for the hand of their overseer.
This caused grass to regrow and homes to erupt out of the ruins. However, Variants were their own ritual, or combinations of rituals.
In order of sequence, Solqulo was to bring them back after Coshire's damage was reverted. Causing many to believe they had normal lives, free of conflict.
Because in reality, they were made at their given age. All recollections of a childhood were just fictional and added in there for their sake.
"Solqulo -"
The notorious ritualist turned to where he heard his voice. Catching Nestres within his sight.
"I finished seeing through Ketra's memories. Turns out Hitirus has the Dream Chaser within his ranks. She, if she ever becomes skillful enough, will be a massive downside against us all. But we know her last stand now."
Nestres opened his hand, revealing a portion of Fruzzy's memory. Inside, she pushed Hylo hard enough to cause her to bend.
Resulting in Hylo summoning Fruzzy's brain and attempting to blow it up from within. Only for Fruzzy to end it swiftly by snapping her neck.
"Hmm... I can see why she'd become a problem. Ketra's brain isn't supposed to have much material to work with, so we should send her to counter Hylo each time," Solqulo suuggested.
"There's more. Looks like the Sol Eater appeared for his daughter. He was the one that pushed Ketra to her last stand," Nestres added.
Another memory appeared within Nestres' palm. Ketra tried to attack and bring down the floating Ether, yet he would only come down for quick hits and slashes.
"Ventelu would ideally be Ketra's partner in this situation. He can bring Ether away, keeping him and his daughter apart so Ketra could defeat her," Solqulo planned.
Yet there was an issue, one that Nestres knew. There were obviously more pre-Nobles than just the Dream Chaser and Sol Eater.
How many more was the question they wanted an answer to.
"It would be wiser to stick to skirmishes until we know who else is with Hitirus. But for now, let's continue rebuilding Coshire until something new pops up," Nestres concluded.
While they worked, Hitirus and Befehlnadir exchanged ideas. Both Virrtwertsurs planned their approach against Nestres and his pre-Nobles.
So far, Befehlnadir suggested he should handle Fruzzy and Ketra. Since both pre-Nobles were close range battlers.
"How about the Thawed?" Hitirus asked. "He's smart enough to understand how lethal thoughts are. Hylo shouldn't combat him."
"But she's smart enough to learn how to weaponize casual thoughts. I can imagine her presence relates to drowsiness, right? Make her move first and at evening," Befehlnadir countered.
"It'll be -"
"Risky? Yeah, but its worth the reward. If we go to a full-scale offensive, we want Hylo to make her part count the most. Solqulo will fight back hard and can provide the other Nobles with rituals to aid them."
Hitirus fell silent, unsure if he should assign Hylo that task. Until the realization that they were basically unkillable came back.
While they waited for the right time to assault, Hylo could practice on somebody else. Allowing her to get stronger and learn about her power more.
"I see what you mean now. Ether and Ventelu is an obvious match," Hitirus changed the topic.
Befehlnadir nodded. "Friends turned foes. I know for a fact a Zesher would want to prove his dominance."
"Yeah. But also, if this happens during the day, Ether will be out-pacing Ventelu. The Iron Butler showed me memories of Ether's time under his previous Heir," Hitirus continued.
"That Zesher 'might' not dominate. Because he WILL dominate. It was mind-boggling how Nestres and his Noble Minds defeated him," Hitirus concluded.
And it was true. The only reason Ether died and survived the wipe out after was because every pre-Noble collapsed on him.
But it took long enough for them to handle the Heir for him to come back during his Heir's final moments. Effectively severing their link and removing the title of Sol Eater from him.
The Iron Butler remained by the bizarre building, keeping his eyes focused on the scheming warriors. While they put down their final ideas, the butler felt a sense of dread.
Something unusual because he was not given permission to do so.