The two weapons emitted sparks of light with their every move that didn’t fade away even after the Griffon had moved to another position.
‘What in the Great Mother’s name is happening?’ Senara suddenly was afraid that even the elite units of the Council might not be enough to win her that battle. ‘Three out of the four Abominations have transformed into Divine Beasts and the nameless man turned out to be a Griffon.
‘Is Elphyn Menadion the only human in the group?’
The answer to her question came when Zoreth in her Shadow Dragon form and Bytra in her human form who stood above the Dragon’s head started to move in unison. The Council representative noticed that there was something familiar in the spell they were casting but the realization arrived when it was too late.
Their arms had traced a six-pointed star that she had mistaken for Silverwing’s Hexagram at first and then for Silverwing’s Annihilation.
‘It cannot be either! The Hexagram takes too long to cast and the Annihilation requires seven violet cored Awakened and Spirit Magic!’ Senara thought, and she was right, but only in part.
White-cored Awakened had more than enough power to use Silverwing’s legacy on their own and regular Eldritches were just as powerful. They couldn’t use Annihilation simply because the light element the spell required was sealed by their ever-hungry black core and lacked Spirit Magic.
Bytra and Zoreth, however, were hybrids who could use light magic freely. They had yet to unlock the power of Spirit Magic, but after studying the anti-Guardian spells, Vastor had altered them in a form that his children could use.
The Shadow Dragon unleashed Chaos Annihilation in the form of a black pillar that cut through the battlefield. It left a dozen meters deep scar into the ground, almost pierced through the Bastions that the Awakened kept at the ready, and killed those who didn’t.
The Chaos replaced the darkness and made up for the lack of Spirit Magic, bringing Vastor’s variation of the Annihilation on par with the original. The seven-man units behind the Bastions replied with their own Annihilation, hoping to put the Dragon down just like they had done with the Tiamat.
Bytra’s Corrupted Bastion stopped them all in their tracks, the cursed element of earth eroding the powers of the enemy’s spells while also making the barrier harder than a diamond.
‘Dammit!’ Senara thought. ‘No regular human can use Corruption and live to tell the tale. It means that the weak link of the chain is Elphyn Menadion, but I can’t afford to kill her. Old magic or not, every piece of the First Ruler of the Flame’s legacy is a priceless treasure.’
At the same time, Solus and Theseus received the Life Maelstrom. The Bastet’s metabolism and bloodline abilities were now boosted to the point that his body instantly recovered from the injuries.
On top of that, he could now share his Mana Body with his allies, imbuing them with the passive effect of his bloodline ability, Mana Aura. Every member of the group was now infused with a massive amount of world energy and a spark of Theseus’ life force.
It boosted their fusion magic and granted them resistance to elemental magic until the world energy he had bestowed upon them wouldn’t run out. It had been the combination of Life Maelstrom and Mana Body that had allowed the two Divine Beast to survive until that moment despite Theseus’ pitiful condition.
No matter the enemy they faced, Dolgus alone would become capable of standing against whole human armies and defending his friend at the same time. Now, however, Theseus wasn’t in need of protection and they weren’t alone anymore.Solus benefitted more than the others from the Bastet’s bloodline ability because world energy was her source of power and the sudden influx made up for her cracked core.<del>panda novel</del>
‘Lith, we must even the field and do it quickly!’ She said via their mind link as she sent half of the Life Maelstrom that she had received to him.
‘Got it!’ Mana Aura and Life Maelstrom boosted the Tiamat’s light fusion to the point that the hole in his chest healed as fast as if he had used Invigoration.
A seven-headed Hydra had used his long necks to restrain his limbs and the remaining three to bite into his exposed flesh, injecting him with deadly venom. While Lith lay helpless on the ground, the members of her unit had bombarded him with spells.
He was covered in wounds and the Voidwalker armor was riddled with more holes than Swiss cheese. Yet now that his lungs were fixed, Lith could finally breathe again.
He took a deep breath, but the Hydra read his move. One head conjured a muzzle of Spirit Magic that would keep his mouth shut while another buried his feathered wings underground with earth magic.
Unfortunately for her, Lith had never intended to release the burst of True Flames that way. The Cursed Flames burst out of his body in a circular eruption that burned the serpentine necks restricting him and inflicted heavy damage on the rest of the seven-man unit.
The Awakened screamed in pain as the Cinder in the Origin Flames drained their bodies of the water element, turning them into dried, highly inflammable plums. Even the Hydra, with one head focused solely on using his breathing technique, could barely withstand the pain.
So, when Lith stood up and freed his wings, the Awakened fell from the frying pan into the freezer. A shockwave of Frozen Flames hit the members of the seven-man unit who were already using water magic to douse the flames, causing a thermal shock that turned them into popsicles.
ᴘ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀ ɴ ᴏᴠᴇʟ Their bodies shattered like glass when Lith hit them with Double Edge. War had already taken its place inside the exoskeleton and had activated its Gleipnir ability to help its master to wave their Blade Tier Spell, Ruin.
Lith would have liked to wait for a moment when he was completely surrounded by enemies to inflict the maximum damage possible, but Life Maelstrom wouldn’t last forever.
The extra power it bestowed upon him would more than make up for the strategic loss. Solus had shared the silver lightning with him and in turn, Lith shared it with War, allowing the blade to develop abilities that exceeded the normal output of its pseudo cores.
‘A Blade Tier Spell empowered by Life Maelstrom?’ A cold shiver ran down Senara’s back and of those who received her warning. ‘We have to stop the Tiamat at all costs! Those close enough focus only on Verhen, the rest prepare another Bastion!’
The idea was excellent, but in her panic, Senara had failed to consider that Lith wasn’t the only player on the battlefield. The combination of Mana Body, Life Maelstrom, and his Meneos side made Theseus nigh-invulnerable.
Sure, while under the effects of the earth-based bloodline ability he couldn’t weave spells, but he had no need for magic when his claws could tear apart metal and his Abomination Touch suck the life out of whoever came too close to him.
The Shadow Dragon breathed one burst of Origin Flames after the other, forcing the Awakened to dodge and disrupting their formations.
