Whisper was once again brought before the Divine Shadow, and under much the same conditions as times past. Binders had been slapped about her wrists, and an armed escort of LDA officers led her in. Upon entry the girl wasted little time in dropping to her knees, bowing her head as she uttered that which she knew was expected of her.

"I worship his shadow."

Where in the past the girl had been meek, withdrawn, and even fearful, she now seemed calm and calculated. Her words were neutral and held no hint of ire within their tone. Even her posture spoke of confidence she had often lacked. Her head was bowed, but her back was straight and her movements precise and with purpose.

Sire Mollem McGregor waved his hand slightly, dismissing the LDA Officers before he gestured for the woman to approach.

"I understand you were visited by an individual that has boasted threatened destruction of this Empire." He said, gesturing to the two LDA Agents to leave, both of them uttering the same words, Whisper did not just a moment ago utter.

"Who was he." He said calmly.

Whisper rose and approached at Mollem's gesture.

"Messor," Whisper replied.

She stopped several paces from Mollem.

"I sought to send him away," she explained. "But he would not be reasoned with. He will come for you. He revealed his intention to me before he departed."

Sire Mollem McGregor tapped his chin, and then he nodded slowly. "He will come, and you will destroy him. Or I will find two cities on your planet, and I will burn them." He said, leaning back into his throne.

"You will tell me how to destroy him."

"I will do as you instruct," Whisper replied.

If there was regret in the girl, it did not show through her apparent willingness to kill her old companion.

"His weakness is the people he cares for," Whisper added after a moment of deliberation over Mollem's question. "He will not kill us, I am certain of that."

Sire Mollem McGregor nodded slowly. "He will die by your hands, and he will be purged from this world if he ever returns." He said, slowly lowering himself and getting comfortable in the throne.

"Now, what are his other weaknesses? His weapons? You will throw yourself before me against him."

"Even if you are to threaten to take your own life to force his surrender."

"Even I don't know the full limitation of his capabilities," Whisper admitted. "His powers lay in the domain of electricity, but he wields a sentient sythe with powers unknown to me. Strip him of his magic and he will have little defense against me."

She turned her head briefly, a moment of uncertainty marring the neutrality of her expression.

"I have a request," she added quietly.

Sire Mollem McGregor nodded slowly. "Strip him of his magic, that is not hard to do. And what is this request?" He said, leaning forward.

"I wish to be of assistance in the matter of the Hagan woman," she explained quietly.

For all of her resistance to matters of the Aschen, that her request would come in the form of offering her assistance was a peculiarity.

Sire Mollem McGregor nodded. "I need to have you here, in the event Messor comes for me." He said, leaning forward and slowly rising from his throne.

"I have the crisis under control, though your assistance is appreciated. You are needed here unless you can teach my bodyguard to protect me."

"Then after," Whisper asserted.

There was an insistence to her words, though she kept her face turned away.

"He intends to move before morning's light, the matter will be resolved by sunrise."

A shifting of shadows, the darkness hiding draconic eyes as they observed the palace. Messor could scent the morn's approach, the hint of warm currents riding into the city. Hands flexed in anticipation, breath loosed slowly. He regretted showing Whisper his target now, simply praying that she had enough sense to stay far from this place.

Minute flashes, arcs cascading over him, leaving behind a blurred scene in the air as he bent the energy around him, rendering him all but invisible to the casual eye. He let his spell run its course, becoming nothing more than a hint in against the shadow, before he shot into the open, blistering speed taking him across the concourse in seconds. The guards at the gate never had a clue as he leaped, catching a handhold on the building above before swinging, throwing himself higher. In jumps, throws, and occasional bursts of scaling, the hybrid ascended the palace with astonishing speed.

Finally reaching the last ledge, Messor flipped himself over and slapped boots down, raising his head to glare across the roof.

A slight smile on his camouflaged face.

Magic only got one so far when they tried to stealth themselves from the state of the art security systems that adorned the Imperial Palace itself. The towering structure was surrounded by security cameras that dotted adjacent buildings, along with a tightly wound LIDAR Screen that could pick up something as small as a bird, to something as large as an airplane. As Messor moved through this security net, the proper personnel were alerted, and specialized cameras swiveled and fixated to his location on the roof.

As he ascended the walls of the Palace, pressure sensors and motion trackers afforded a real time view of his progress. Messor didn't know it. But as the Guards at the gate were oblivious to his approach, several key personnel inside the Palace itself were prepping for his arrival.

"My Lord..." A young Guard said kneeling before the Divine Shadow. "I worship his shadow." He added, inclining his head as the Divine shadow looked up.

"What is it?" He asked, and the guard spoke. "There is an intruder in the premises, we must get you to safety." He said, and the hooded figure slowly rose.

"Ensure he does not leave this building alive." He said, formulating a plan.

---

On the roof, Several CPF Personnel, Imperial Guard, and LDA Were already at work establishing defensive bastions to 'welcome' their new guest, the first line of defenses were automated rotary plasma turrets. But the most challenging defense was the Mana destabilization field emitted by Palace defenses, which would act to prevent any form of magical energy from manifesting, essentially stripping magic from it's very source. Should this effect it's target, Messor would find his magic gone.

The most startling of sensations, Messor staring with a moment of shock at himself as flesh became visible, his camouflage curling away in a cascade of sparks. Yet more concerning was the change that came in its wake.

Flesh seamed to curl away in flakes, the glamour that wreathed his form falling victim to the negation of his magic. Long, curving talons became visible, the dull gleam of the metal that formed them sinister in the low light. As yet more of his enchanted form twisted away, dissipating ash on the wind, a menacing figure appeared, the hybrid slowly rising, growling with an inhuman voice as he glared at the scrambling defenders. Scaled arms, height rearing as draconian features became visible. A scant handful of seconds to reveal the true appearance of the man, and though the stripping away of his magic indeed hampered him...

By no means it left him at much of a disadvantage.

Stone cracked underfoot as he went from a standstill to a blistering charge in a single lunge, darting with frightening agility in a random weaving sprint for the bastions. Reptilian eyes saw unblinking, their regard cold as the intent of their owner. Plasma burned brilliant paths as they struggled to maintain a solid lock on him, yet the hybrid could have laughed with the pitiful speeds he perceived the bolts as.

A handful of seconds, no more, and he would be past the first line of defense. His claws flexed with the anticipation.

As Messor darted through the first line of defense, a figure stood at the opposite end of the hallway as he seemed to move with blinding speed through the halls, dodging plasma and disruptor beam alike. The Cowled figure bore two glowing red eyes, staring forward with the perceptiveness of a god. She watched Messor's every move, as he gracefully dodged the beams that moved about through the hallway. Teeth bore from the figure, before Messor would likely find himself impacting a hard light shield manifested from nothingness.

"Apotheosis was the beginning before the beginning. Devices on alert. Observe the procedures of a general alert. The base and the pinnacle. The flower inside the fruit that is both its parent and its child. Decadent as ancestors. The portal and that which passes." She said hastily.

"The Enemy of my enemy is my challenger and foe - end of line." She said, before she lunged forward with lightning speed, perceivable only to her foe.

The robe was thrown from the woman, and a sickening kanvium blade was drawn as she hurled herself towards the demon with superhuman speed.