Nalrond conjured a hard-light wall to stop the enemy's advance, but with so little time he couldn't' weave a powerful spell. Just like the others, he had been taken by surprise and with no spell at the ready, forcing the Rezar to resort to low tiered magic due to its short casting time.
Protector inwardly thanked Faluel as her Adamant armor, Ouro, kept the goblins from crippling his Achille's heels and kneecaps with their enchanted mining tools. The picks stung instead of piercing and the hammers bruised his flesh but didn't break his bones.
The two Balors tackled him, trying to squeeze the life out of the werewolf-looking creature that had replaced the red-headed barbarian with their tree trunks-sized arms, but even in his smaller form, the Skoll retained all of his mass.
Even the combined efforts of the two titans couldn't move a creature that weighed a few tons once he had plated his claws deeply into the rock. Protector had been forced to tank the hits to not expose his teammates, not because he was too slow to dodge.
His enchanted mace, Boros, swatted the goblins like flies, leaving a red smear on the floor as the only trace of their fleeting existence. Then, he moved his grip to near the head of the weapon, making it an extension of his fists.
He struck with the mace at the Balors, forcing them to take a step back to not have their heads burst open like watermelons..
"Somebody help Quylla!" Morok said in a panic the moment he raised his eyes from the jammed amulet.
Yet his words fell on deaf ears.
Protector was fully equipped but he was outnumbered and the moment the monsters restricted his movements, it would be his end. As for Nalrond, the only protection he wore was the natural scales covering his Rezar body and his only weapon were his claws.
He could only take a few hits before being forced to run away or die.
The sound of ripping flesh filled the room while a river of blood spread from under the body of the Balor that had overpowered Quylla.
The creature stood up slowly with a huge grin on his face, but only because the Adamant blades that had pierced his neck and skull pulled his skin up. The wings of the Featherwalker armor were now extended, revealing that each one of its plumes was actually razor-sharp.
Before falling to the ground, Quylla had used the metal wings as shields to absorb the impact, and then she had exploited the Balor's very own weight to impale him. His bite had only met Adamant, turning his teeth into a bloody mess.
Rhona cast a healing spell on her comrade, only to find that there was no life to nurture anymore. Quylla had shot several tier one Light Mastery heat rays through the open wounds, reaching the vital organs and killing him before her back even touched the ground.
"Get over here!" Bloodbind, the Adamant chain that Orion had crafted for her, wrapped itself around one of the two Balors that were facing Protector, dragging her in front of Quylla.
The combined effect of Fusion Magic, the body enhancing effect of the Featherwalker armor, and Bloodbind's enchantments made the young woman strong enough to put the much heavier creature on a leash.
Thanks to his red and orange eyes, the Balor could use Fusion Magic as well. Yet Quylla had used the chains to restrict his neck, limiting both the blood and the airflow to her head.
The Balor managed to resist the human's pull only until his lungs started to burn for air as every time he relaxed her neck, the constriction became tighter and the oxygen reaching his lungs scarcer.
'Pulling my head is the dumbest idea ever.' The fallen Balor thought while the fire element built up in his red eye and he adjusted his aim so that the elemental pillar would hit at least two enemies at the same time.
"Never stand in front of an Evil Eye!" He roared before unleashing his attack.
'Opening that huge ass eye so close to me is the dumbest idea ever.' Quylla thought as the ends of Bloodbind turned into scalpels that pierced through the Balor's ears, eyes, and mouth at once.
Not only did they dispel the accumulated fire element, foiling the attack, but they also unleashed Quylla's spells directly inside the Balor's body. Under the protection of his tough scales and thick bones, there were still just flesh and blood.
A tier one air magic spell, Shock, and a tier one darkness spell, Rot, were more than enough to kill even an Emperor Beast when applied respectively to their brain and windpipe.
The electric discharge sent the Balor into a seizure while the darkness destroyed the throat. Together, they kept the corpse convulsing for a while, giving its allies the illusion that their comrade was just wounded.
One against one, Protector's speed made him an impossible opponent for the remaining fallen Balor. Boros stuck at the monster's gonads, crushing his hopes for offspring forever, before hitting his chest and head in quick succession.
Each hit left a deep depression in the flesh, but it wasn't enough to kill. Yet.
'Quylla is doing great but her lack of battle experience is showing. We are still outnumbered and if we waste time double-tapping everyone we'll end up trapped like mice.' He thought while darting forward, leaving behind his opponents after hitting them only once.
Goblins were so frail that they died on the spot whereas Balors would end up with several broken bones.
Against non-Awakened enemies, it was better than killing them. Wounded soldiers were a burden to their allies and a perfect diversion. Even if Rhona wasted her mana to heal them, the exhaustion would have made them incapable of fighting anymore.
Seeing Quylla being alright made Morok relax.
'If anything happens to her before I have the opportunity to tell her the truth, I'll never forgive myself.' He thought while putting the amulet back into his breast pocket and wielding his twin one-handed battle hammers, Grimnir.
They both had their head flat on one end to inflict the maximum of damage to heavily armored enemies while the other ended in a pick. It allowed Morok to focus all of his strength on a single point and pierce through thin armor to reach the vitals.
The young Tyrant had Awakened only for short while so he was still getting used to his now enhanced body. Yet his rich battle experience more than made up for it. Every time he made a mistake due to moving too quickly or with too much strength, he managed to turn the opening into a bait for a counter attack.
Nalrond's barrier fell under the repeated attacks of the Balors, switching the tide of the battle once again. The reverted goblins had used their earth magic to craft trenches from which they made the rock ceiling of the tunnel collapse on the head of their enemies.
The Balors opened their eyes in unison, unleashing energy pillars that flooded the tunnel, incinerating everything in their wake.
With dimensional magic still sealed by Rhona's wings, the invader had no way to reach the safety of one of the side tunnels before the elemental wave engulfed them.
