Lochra's tier five Spirit Magic spell, Silver Spire, created a thick, tall barrier that not only dispersed the impact by spinning at high speed, but it also absorbed the shockwave, sending it right back to its caster.
The spear slowly pierced through the shields like a drill through a wall while the sudden blow from her own spell threw Solus off balance. She quickly recovered, unleashing a tier five spell against the spear.
'That barrier offers her great protection, but as long as she keeps it up, she can't attack either.' Solus thought as Stormnado created a whirlwind filled with darkness magic that engulfed the construct.
The spell both altered the trajectory of the spear and corroded it, reducing its power.
"Thanks for your help, child." Silverwing twirled his hand, making the spear spin so fast that it altered Stormnado's momentum, sending it through the shields and against Lith.
"You should have known that your own magic can't harm neither you nor your spells, but the same isn't true for hi-" She choked on her words when the spell passed through Lith as well, without doing him any harm.
"You should have listened to me earlier. I told you that we are as one." Solus said. "If you really care for me, then stop this madness. You could become our mentor, teach us what we need and work with us to find a cure to my condition."
"And give away my knowledge to someone I don't know, don't trust, and who could potentially hold you hostage forever? No thanks." Silverwing acted cool, but her mind was in disarray.
'This makes no sense. When Epphy told me about their fusion, I thought she referred to the tower's battle form. Artifacts can hurt their owners. I've killed lots of mages on their own blade, why is the tower so different now?' She thought.
Solus noticed her confusion and exploited it to switch to close quarter combat. Each one of her fists hit the barrier with the strength of a collapsing building, filling the Silver Spire with cracks.
'Even if I had access to a real mana geyser, my combat experience is insignificant compared to that of the First Magus.' Solus thought. 'My only option is to beat her with raw strength, playing as dirty as I can.'
"You'll never crack my barrier before- Oh, crap." For a moment, Silverwing had forgotten they were still inside the tower.
Solus could do more than just draw power from it. The room was shrinking so that the wall pressed against the Spirit Magic barrier from all sides but the front, where Solus kept hammering at it with the speed of a gatling gun and the strength of a titan.
Lochra had to use her full focus to keep the barrier intact while not letting the spear fade away.
'If I get caught by that flurry of fists, I can kiss my internal organs goodbye. I don't want to hurt Epphy nor reveal her existence to the rest of Mogar, otherwise she won't have a moment of peace. Luckily, I only need to hold out until my spear hits the target.' She thought.
Alas, she was right. Despite Solus's best effort, the hard-light construct had slowed down, but never stopped its movements. She could sense through her mystical senses the construct getting closer and closer to Lith.
Her eyes burned with golden mana as she turned her distress into a fury that gave more strength and speed to her onslaught. The whole tower started to hum with power as Solus's feelings flooded every part of her being.
Silverwing praised her efforts as her apparently bottomless energy made the First Magus wonder if Baba Yaga had been right to suggest she make her own tower.
'First, I need to give back Epphy her life. Then, I must find a way to let her have Ripha's legacy. I don't want to take the tower away from her, she's already lost too much.' She thought. 'What the heck is that?'
Lith's body stood up, his eyes burning with the same golden energy exuded from Solus's body. He lifted his right hand, unleashing a bolt of darkness that phased through the shields and shattered the spear before moving towards Silverwing with the speed of a bullet.
"Leave… Solus… alone." Even in his unconscious state, Lith shared her fear as well as her determination.
The still precarious state of his life forces turned the Plague Arrow into a quasi-Chaos Arrow that shattered what remained of the Silver Spire spell, allowing Solus to mercilessly pummel at her enemy before Lochra could realize what had happened.
Solus shattered Lochra's ribs, broke her collarbone, punctured her liver, and bashed her skull. Yet she was forced to leave the job halfway because Lith's condition started to get worse again.
"No. No. No! What have you done?" Solus yelled trying her best to keep the Abomination side from taking over the rest of the body. If that happened, even Lith's touch would become poison.
She would never feel his hand, lose herself into the warmth of his embrace, or even suffer the pungent smell of his sweat after a long day of work ever again.
"What I came here to do." Silverwing didn't need either healing magic or Ascension to take care of her wounds. Her body healed at a speed visible at the naked eye until no trace of her defeat remained.
"You have all rights of hating me now, Epphy. I can only hope that with time, you'll understand that I only did it for you." She placed her hand on the wall, ready to imprint the tower the moment Lith lost his life.
Lochra knew that becoming a full Abomination would cause a change in his energy signature that would break the imprint on all of his artifacts for a split second. She had seen it happen in the past when a hybrid chose between their two life forces.
The only thing she needed to snatch her goddaughter away was to be faster than her opponent.
"Stop calling me like that! You have no idea who I am and what I want. If you really cared for me, you would try to make my life better instead of robbing me of the little happiness I have." Solus lashed out, realizing that she couldn't do it alone.
Yet calling Tista and Phloria was pointless. They were still too tired and the effect of Invigoration had yet to reset. Even if that wasn't the case, messing with a complex Body Sculpting procedure would take Silverwing but a sneeze.
Solus couldn't fight and heal at the same time, not against an opponent of unfathomable power. Seeing the scales turning into shadows despite her best efforts, made Solus lose hope yet she never stopped fighting.
"Damn you, Silverwing. Why didn't you leave me alone?" Solus's voice created a shockwave that nailed the First Magus to the wall, incapable of moving a finger.
Lith's eyes were still golden while Solus's turned black. A blinding flash of light spread from them leaving the stunned Silverwing in awe.
Lith's body had disappeared and, in its stead, Solus stood over 3 meters tall. Her energy body had become that of a creature covered in golden and black scales, both with their edges blood-red from the heat sealed within.
