Yet none of the projectiles reached their target because an unknown force pulled them up, making the arrows miss the human by a wide margin. The smirk of the archers turned into a surprised expression when they felt their feet leaving the ground and heard the screams of their companions.
Thanks to Soul Vision, the elves knew that Friya's spell would create a gravity pillar, but such a move posed no threat to them. They could see the limits of its area of effect before it even formed and step out of it before the human's spell took effect.
The most paranoid among the elves had even prepared a tier zero gravity spell, in the case that there was some trick behind the Friya's move and they got dragged inside. It would have allowed them to lessen the effect of an increased gravity or to fly away in the case gravity was reversed.
They would have never expected that by adding chore dimensional magic Friya would create a hurricane. The gravitational component inverted the gravity after amplifying it tenfold while dimensional magic twisted its pull, creating a twister rather than a simple updraft.
Usually, to create a real-life tornado would require a combination of powerful tier five spells, but by combining gravity magic's raw power and dimensional magic's fine-tune control to focus her spell into a small area, Friya had almost obtained the same effect.
The loosed arrows were getting sucked up by the hurricane along with those still in the quivers, the quivers themselves, and the elves bearing them.
Those who still had their feet on the ground had to let Friya go and weave a flight spell to escape death while those who had one at the ready had to focus on rescuing their companions before the tornado turned them into shreds.
The elves' formation went in complete disarray, making it possible for Friya to safely Blink to her destination.
'I hate exploiting their care for each other. It makes me feel like I'm the bad guy here. Yet getting captured and becoming their toy or whatever they want from us would be much worse.' She thought.
Quylla sighed in relief at her arrival, hoping that Friya would turn the tables or at least buy them enough time to escape.
'Focusing on defensive spells kept Nalrond from counter-attacking and I'm at the end of my rope. We need to get out of here, fast!' She said to her companions via a quick mind link created from her Royal Forgemastering wand.
M'Rael stared at the silver thread connecting the humans to the hybrid with Soul Vision, trying to understand if it was a threat. The moment he recognized the energy signature of Spirit Magic, greed filled his eyes.
'By the Great Mother! The human isn't an Awakened, I can see it from her static mana flow. Yet that thing allows her to use the seventh element, the only one that is forbidden to the elven race.
'Screw Light Mastery. If I capture her and force her to teach us how to use Spirit Magic, we'll become more powerful than most Awakened. An entire race capable of using the seventh element can wipe out armies with minimal losses.
'Spirit Magic has no weakness and can be used for both offense and defense. We already know Light Mastery. Even though the Rezar's technique is more powerful, improving Light Mastery is much easier than learning Spirit Magic from scratch.' The elf lord thought.
M'Rael ignored Nalrond and moved towards Quylla, eager to fetch his prize. The Rezar finally managed to breathe again while he cursed his weakness.
'I should have asked for an armor a long time ago, even if it meant to owe Lith or Faluel big time. Me and my stupid pride. It's only because of me that the Dewans-'
'Less self-loathing, more crossing over. Get me out of here.' Friya cut him short.
'What about Quylla?' He could see her Skinwalker armor turning red from the heat emanating from the elf. Chore water magic couldn't keep up even with the side effects of a tier five spell.
'I trust her and so should you. Now get a move.' Friya took his hand while Nalrond extended his consciousness toward the silvery barrier that separated the Fringe from the outside world.
He let Mogar's voice flow inside his head, focusing on his own name to resist the onslaught of the myriad of memories and personalities that threatened to smother his mind.
Friya and Nalrond shared again the worst moments of their lives, but this time they were ready. A split second after, she was on the other side. Her mind was so focused on the grave danger that awaited her that she even managed to keep her Dimensional Ruler spell active despite the ordeal.
Friya didn't abandon her sister, she had moved forward to protect her. She knew that the elves had likely left another squadron outside, to capture them the moment they emerged from the Fringe.
It was what she would have done in their shoes, anticipating the worst case scenario and exploiting the confusion that a Fringe inflicted the prey to win without a fight. Yet what she saw left her speechless, filling her heart with dread.
The squadron was comprised of over thirty elves armed to the teeth. Or better, that was what she estimated from their remains.
A snow-white skinned humanoid figure over two meters (6' 7") tall was chasing the last five men unit, using its twin one-handed battle hammers to squash the enemies and block their arrows.
Morok's nose had disappeared, replaced by two slits on his face while his lipless mouth was twisted in a savage grin that revealed several rows of shark-like teeth. The scene made no sense to Friya.
She knew that the Tyrant was powerful, but no more than any other non Awakened Emperor Beast. He was supposed to be on the same level as Nalrond, maybe a bit stronger thanks to the army training, but not by much.
It took her a split second to snap out of it and even less to come to Morok's side to help him finish them off quickly.
"By the Great Mother!" Friya said after noticing that there was no trace of his four eyes on his face and shoulders.
"Yeah, I know. Those suckers too never bothered thinking why Tyrants are known as the Tyrannical Eye, singular." Morok replied.
His Skinwalker armor was open, revealing a single eye so big that it covered most of his wide chest. It had a vertical pupil and a five-colored iris that only lacked the silver of the light element.
The elves cursed their bad luck, shooting a volley of spells at the human and hoping to distract the monster long enough to Blink near the Fringe and get back inside.
"Have you really not understood how it works yes? And then people call me stupid." Morok said as the giant eye sucked the spells in before projecting them out in the form of a multi-colored pillar that blew the nearest elf to pieces.
Tyrants and Balors had many things in common. Among them, there was the ability to absorb the elemental energy of an enemy spell as long as they had the right eye for the job.
