Legion20
Ok, I know this is a bit saddistic, but her death kind of makes sense to me from the plot point of view. She not being able to awaken must have put a lot of pressure on the author to make her keep up with others without compromising the world logic too much. So in the end this should lead to much more interesting story.
there may be counter arguments to what I'm about to say but I'll say it anyways I think that all of this balkor card thing is stupid because no matter what at the end the person behind it all is merely an archmage and even if he got assistance from others how is this supposed to be better than the whole kingdom and their best people and the firstborn who is searching for him oh and the master and his organisation is after him too
This chapter hits hard. It's set up amazingly well, and is brutal. First off, you have a light-hearted scene that tries to keep the reader off guard. Then, it actively tries to raise the reader's guard by mentioning the potential danger of going to the gardens, but that caution from the reader is flippantly dismissed, and presented as unwarranted paranoia. Then we get into the actual garden. Lith is admiring it, and his internal monologue is essentially backing up that it was the right decision to visit the gardens. Finally, it raises our guard one final time by mentioning Quylla having run out in front of everyone. The difference is, due to the so far lighter atmosphere of the chapter, we expect the threat to be laughed off again. The first shot hitting her heart, and not her head, is calculated. We can assume that it wouldn't be that much more difficult to hit the head instead of the heart, maybe even easier. But it would be infinitely less dramatic. This way, there is still some small level of hope that she can be saved, between Lith, Marth, and Manohar being readily available at the party. But then they hope is torn away violently when her head is destroyed, leaving Lith and the readers shocked at the fact that she's dead. Now let's talk about timing. First off, we've been on edge for a while, terrified of who will be killed next. On the other hand, we've slowly been lulled into a false sense of security. The assassin has been able to strike because he's outmatched. Derius and his faction have been de-clawed in the past few chapters, and they're in the royal palace, arguably the safest and most well defended area in the kingdom. On top of all that, Quylla just helped Lith overcome a major psychological hurdle. That last reason is the most important, above all else. Quylla told Lith to stop worrying so much about the future, to let his guard down, and to let everyone he cares about know how he feels about them. The moment he does that, the very person who gave that advice is killed in front of his eyes. This is going to lead to some major character defining chapters. There's a couple of ways this can turn out for Lith. The first, and least likely, is that all his character development throughout the entirety of the story goes down the drain. Quylla could essentially become a second Carl, a driving force of vengeance, and a lesson to never grow close to anyone weaker than himself. On the other hand, she could be a catalyst to open himself more, to cherish the people he loves while they're still alive. What I hope is that it does have a positive change on Lith. I think it will give a lot of opportunities for his powers over the dead to grow. I see his role as a Tiamat not as an avenger, but as someone who gives the dead closure. Up to now, all his shades have wanted one thing, revenge. This can be a window to another option, bringing back the shades of lived ones to say their final goodbyes. But that's all guessing. I believe that Legion will take this opportunity and make this story even more interesting and compelling. However this affects Lith, I plan to continue reading and supporting Legion. Supreme Magus is the story that got me hooked to this site, and I'm here until the very end.