The elements started to flow clockwise from one eye into another. From the yellow eye on the left side of his forehead to the red one, from the red eye to the silver one on his cheek. Then from silver to orange, from orange to black, and from black to blue.
Once the circle was complete, all of the elements flowed as one into the seventh eye in the middle of Lith's forehead. The vertical eyelid opened slowly, giving Jakra the impression of watching at an emerald moon rising.
"That changes nothing." The Emerald Dragon reverted to his original size and form, matching Lith's height once again while his equipment grew in size accordingly, fitting his Dragon body like a glove.
Even though now their mass was on par, Lith had lost his armor and weapon in the process. Both the Scalewalker armor and War were smaller than toys for the Tiamat's body.
'He has no experience with this size nor control over his powers. Evolving to the violet core just widened the gap between us in my favor.'
Or so Jakra's thought until Lith struck at him with a front kick that also packed his tier four Spirit spell, Piercing Explosion. Unlike the Tiamat, the Emerald Dragon had no protection while shapeshifting, leaving his body completely open.
The kick and the emerald pillar sent Jakra flying back. He crashed against Arthan's Madness, turning it into a pile of scraps.
Now that the mana geyser was free for the taking, Solus drained every drop of world energy from it. She regained her tower mass and used the merging with War and the Scalewalker to reshape her form into equipment that Lith could use.
The sword he wielded and the armor he wore were of a lackl.u.s.ter dull grey, yet they brimmed with the power of a mage tower.
'Thanks for believing in me even when everything was lost, Solus.' Lith thought as he let his mana flow freely from his core through his shoulder, arm, hand, and into Solus's sword.
'Save the thanks for later. First, we have to take care of this jackass. I'm afraid he's under Huryole's slave spell, but we don't have the luxury to care for it.' She said while letting Lith's mana merge with her own and flood War.
'Agreed. Now that I've gotten the violet core, I can't defeat Jakra without your help.' Lith replied.
'We can only do it together.' They thought in unison.
Salaark was right when she said that no person could be one with a sword because weapons are nothing but tools. Yet Solus wasn't a tool. She was a person and the master of the tower that now was not only part of her body, but also a part of War.
Lith and Solus were as one, making them unwittingly weave their first Blade tier spell.
The air crackled as an ominous emerald glow shrouded Tower War. The blade produced a slash that cut through Dragonclaw's Adamant and the Kingslayer armor, opening a deep gash in the c.h.e.s.t of the Emerald Dragon.
"What?" Jakra and Thrud said in unison as she Warped her companion to safety and collapsed the space behind them to cover their escape.
In the meantime, in the other half of the cave, Xedros couldn't dodge to save his life, literally. Lith and Jakra were now so big that they took the rest of the available space, locking him into place.
Scarlett's claws gouged one of his eyes out as they crossed his face and c.h.e.s.t, ripping away all the scales that they met. A Dragon was strong, but a Guardian was stronger. The Sekhmet's cantrips had now the power of tier four spells and her Spirit Spells reached new heights.
Scarlett severed Xedros' right arm and then the left, returning him to a Wyvern-like appearance.
"Was it worth it?" She asked with a thunderous voice. "Was it worth taking all those lives just to feed your ego? Nothing will remain of you, not even the memory. I'll make sure of it!"
Scarlett used her tier five Spirit Spell, Primordial Roar, that struck at the Golden Dragon like a Guardian tier spell. Xedros's scales turned into ice while the light and earth spikes pierced through his body, covering it in cracks.
The vibrations from air shattered Xedros into bits and the darkness turned the bits into dust.
Less than one minute had passed since Scarlett had evolved into a Guardian yet the battle had already ended. Vladion reappeared soon after, coughing out a mouthful of blood due to a deep wound that went from his c.h.e.s.t to his back, missing his heart by a hair's breadth.
"I'm glad to see you fared much better than me." He said while using Invigoration to heal, now that he didn't have to worry about his companions anymore. "Thrud may not be an Awakened, but she's stronger than anyone I ever faced.
"She can use Life Maelstrom, she has unparalleled physical prowess, and her equipment is out of this world. She let me live on purpose, to not anger Baba Yaga."
"Tell that to someone who cares." Scarlett said while wincing in pain.
Becoming a Guardian had given her more than just power. It has also created a bond between the Sekhmet and Mogar through which now flowed countless information. During the fight with Xedros, the white pillar had protected Scarlett's mind, but now that it was gone, she felt her sanity slipping away.
She couldn't care less about Thrud or Vladion's grievances with her. All she wanted was for that crippling pain to stop.
'Come to my house, sister.' Leegaain said via a mind link. 'Its dimensional space is isolated from Mogar and it will give you the opportunity to get adjusted to your new form. Even Salaark's Desert is deserted in name only.
'Its life forms would call upon you as well, drawing you crazy unless you know how to block them.'
'Thanks, old lizard, but there are a few things that I have to do first.' She replied while turning towards the Tiamat.
"I have to go now and I don't know when or if I'll return to the Griffon Kingdom. I entrust Kalla and Nyka to you. Take care of them as I would and bring them home safely. I have no use for this anymore, so I want you to give it to Kalla."
Scarlett handed the Eyes of Menadion to Lith after removing her imprint from them.
"You and I are both going to have a hard time. We've lost much today, and only time will tell if our gains are worth the price we paid. Farewell." The Sekhmet took a step forward and disappeared through a Gate that moved her inside Leegaain's biomes.
Lith had to squint his eyes to see the minuscule gold-rimmed pince-nez that now lay in his hand.
"F.u.c.k me sideways." Those were the first words the newborn Tiamat spoke.
He tried to shapeshift by calling upon his human side, but it wasn't there anymore.
The black sphere of his Abomination side had turned into an elliptical void, at the center of which burned a big, deep violet star. Countless smaller blue stars surrounded it, and each one of them was connected to the other stars and with the dark space around them by what looked like a thick red thread.
