On top of that, thanks to the Sage Staff's power core taking care of the fine control of the effects of gravity magic, all the caster had to do was to point and shoot.
When Quaron tried to get out of the area of effect of Distorted Field Solus altered the direction of gravity, making him fall toward her. He instinctively tried to take a deep breath and almost choked on his blood.
'What can those things do exactly?' Locrias asked while trying to sever Quaron's head from his neck with a horizontal slash with War.
'Can't you just read my mind?' Solus replied while using one of the spheres forming the Distorted Field to accelerate Locrias and another to make Quaron's feet heavier, messing with his tempo.
'No. I can speak with you like this only because I'm in your shadow. Your energy signature is attuned with me enough to control your body, but that's it. I feel like I should be able to do more yet I can't.' Locrias was amazed by the Ranger managing to block his attacks.
Yet he could feel from the impact that due to Solus's monstrous strength and to the spheres that somehow limited his movements, Quaron had failed to disperse the force of the hit, taking a lot of damage anyway.
'It must be because Lith and I share the same energy signature but not his bloodline abilities. It seems that he can Possess his Demons as he did in Urgamakka.' Solus was relieved by that answer.
She liked Locrias, but she didn't want to share with him the most private details of her life nor her thoughts.
Quaron felt the bones in his arm cracking but darkness fusion made the pain bearable. He focused healing magic on his nose, repairing it and hurling Origin Flames at Solus.
She only needed to activate the sphere closest to his face to create an updraft that altered the trajectory of the breath enough for Locrias to dodge it with minimal movement and aim for the neck.
Quaron Blinked away, only for Solus to Blink along and for Locrias to lunge from behind, piercing his throat.
'It's not enough. Cut his head off and pierce his heart. I have no mana left.' Solus said and Locrias complied.
Only when mana sense confirmed that Quaron was dead did Solus dispel Distorted Field, using the Sage Staff to fuel her core.
'What do we do now?' Locrias said, feeling that if he used even one bit more strength he would be back being a wandering soul.
'We wait.' Solus replied.
Suddenly, War escaped her grip and took the sky, flying towards the two still fighting titans.
'Can you see what's happening?' Solus asked Locrias, discovering that he was gone as well, leaving her alone.
***
The explosion of the Origin Flames had wounded Syrook, but it was far from lethal. Lith was still wounded from the fall and the kicking, making them even.
Yet the Black Dragon had still the advantage of a bigger body, a stronger core, and better equipment. Lith didn't waste time patting his own back and hurled a second stream of Void Flames to finish the job.
Both Dragons were amazed at how fast and destructive the black flames were.
While Origin Flames moved akin to an oversized flame thrower Void Flames moved akin to a laser, keeping their form compact and without decreasing their intensity over distance.
Syrook reacted promptly by flapping his wings and breathing Origin Flames. He couldn't get far in time but that small step back allowed him to ride the winds of the explosion and get away.
At the same time, he slashed non-stop with Sunder, generating a volley of wind blades that ravaged the land and attacked Lith from every side.
"Enough of this." The Voidfeather Dragon snarled as his yellow eye shone bright.
The spells passed through Lith like a spring breeze, incapable of hurting their new master. Then, they turned around and moved against Syrook.
The Black Dragon had no idea what Domination was but after Solus had reflected one of his spells, he had gotten the gist of it. He activated his Nether Gate bloodline ability again, releasing all of the undead he had created.
Their existence limited the amount of darkness element that Nether Gate could conjure and with his life on the line, Syrook couldn't hold back.
A sea of dark energy shrouded him, eating the wind blades inside out with each meter they advanced. The rain of spells managed to hit him anyway and opened several deep wounds, even tearing his wings in multiple spots, but it was still better than dying.
Lith could feel his throat hurting from the Void Flames and reverted into his Tiamat form.
'I can't risk Chaos or whatever it is damaging me during a fight. On top of that, I suck at fighting as a Dragon.' He thought while giving chase, hoping to catch up with Syrook before he could use Invigoration.
The Black Dragon's pride hurt from being forced to run away, yet he valued his life too much to keep fighting a losing battle.
'I just need a coupled of breaths for-' Quaron's death struck at him like a lightning and dealt almost as much damage.
Losing his Harbinger wounded a Divine Beast's very life force, causing a pain that couldn't be treated in any way. Lith saw Syrook freeze while Life Vision showed him that not only had the Black Dragon yet to heal, but his strength had also dramatically decreased.
'He has recalled his minions, it's time that I do the same!' Lith focused on his link with War and the angry blade answered the call.
It abandoned Solus, flying at sub-sonic speed over the battlefield, and used its Soul Weaver ability as it moved. War collected the Demons on its passage, adding their strength and mass to its own.
When it reached Lith, War fused itself with his conjured swords, using them as a scaffold for the Demons it carried. In a split second, the two blades became a replica of War made of earth, light, and shadows, big enough for the Tiamat to use.
Lith closed the distance that separated him from the Dragon and lunged at the heart.
Syrook blocked the attack with both hands, forming an X with Sunder in front of his chest to cut down the blade along with its wielder. Yet even though its body wasn't made of Adamant, War withstood the hit and overpowered his guard.
The angry blade pierced through the thick black scales that protected the Dragon's chest and unleashed all of its enchantments inside his body, killing him on the spot.
Lith usually would have destroyed the heart and crushed the head of a fallen enemy to confirm the kill, but his wallet was already bleeding over the loss of the Black Dragon's heart.
'I always heard that it's a top grade ingredient that contains a lot of magical power.' He thought with a deep sigh. 'I wish I could have just cut his neck. I didn't mind losing a few scales.
'Now there's one huge problem left.. I have no idea if my pocket dimension can fit something this big.'
"Get over here!" The sudden pull dragged Quaron down, sending him crashing against the ground akin to a living meteor.
He promptly reacted by making the soil elastic in order to soften his landing and add the momentum gained to his counterattack.
Unfortunately for him, Lith noticed his plan with Life Vision and foiled it with a flick of his wrist. The construct changed the direction of the fall, leading straight against Lith's fist.
Quaron managed to Blink away in the nick of time, but he had no way to get rid of the hand of light that shackled him. The moment he came out of the dimensional door, the construct exerted its pull again and this time he was ready to counter it.
Quaron managed to avoid getting dragged again, but only until Lith sent a second construct to also pull Quaron by the cape and change the direction of the force.
'His quick thinking and reaction speed are worthy of someone ranked M by the military. Yet only a self-absorbed idiot wears a cape. Solus, analysis.' Lith thought while Quaron orbited around him akin to a planet with its star.
'I would have ranked him C for cheater rather than M for monster.' She replied. 'His equipment is nothing like the standard stuff they gave you received at the end of the boot camp. They are all high-end artifacts, some of Awakened making and some not.
'Whoever gave them to him is no Forgemaster. As for his mana core, Quaron has a nice bright blue Awakened one but for some reason, it has several violet streaks and it produces mana of similar quality to yours.'
'What?' Lith was flabbergasted, holding the thug of war long enough for Solus to complete her report. 'I don't remember any way to temporarily boost your mana core and it took me years to reach the pseudo-violet level.
'Even thralls just receive a blood core while their original mana core stays the same. Quaron's status service was impeccable until last winter but nothing in his personal achievements makes me think he's a self-Awakened.'
'I have no idea what's going on. If I had to make an educated guess, I'd say that Quaron's core, just like his equipment has been modified by the so-called god who is pulling the strings behind the scenes.' Solus said.
In the few seconds that their conversation lasted, Lith used every iota of his willpower to twist and pull the constructs.
There was only so much he could do from a distance whereas his opponent exploited his enhanced body, further boosting it with fusion magic. On top of that, Quaron kept flooding the phantom hands with darkness magic that ate at them from the inside.
The hard-light construct had just started to crack when they suddenly disappeared into thin air.
'Tired of fighting a losing battle, Verhen? Too bad those spells weren't just a leash, they were also your lifeline!' The traitorous Ranger brimmed with fury just thinking the word leash.
Lith was unknowingly salting Quaron's wounds and the fact that he had fallen for such an obvious trap only worsened his mood. He weaved one of his best Battle Mage spells, Eclipsing Shockwave.
It would conjure several streams of darkness-infused bolts of lightning followed by a series of high-speed winds comprised of razor-sharp air blades.
The flashes from the bolts were barely visible under the darkness coating them, giving the spell the first part of its name, while the air currents that devastated everything in their wake gave it the second half.
Quaron's favorite tactic was to spread the lightning bolts so that the high-speed winds would block any escape route.
'Back when I was still a fake mage, my opponents could avoid Eclipsing Shockwave with Blink, but now I can see the exit points with Life-' A sudden hit to back cut him short.
Quaron completed the spell despite the pain, yet Eclipsing Shockwave failed to take form, throwing a good chunk of his mana into the gutter.
The Ranger was stunned by the sudden turn of events but things got even worse when he started to fall like a brick despite his flying spell. He gritted his teeth to endure the pain and never avert his eyes from the opponent.
The moment Lith had dispelled the construct he had also jumped towards the enemy and deactivated Gravity Fusion, leaving behind a small crater.
Quaron tried to Blink away but the spell failed him.
Only then did he notice thanks to Life Vision that Lith had timed the disappearance of the construct so that it would throw Quaron inside the elemental sealing arrays of Zeska.
Unbeknownst to him, Lith had further fooled the traitorous Ranger by coating himself in air fusion in a way that resembled a flight spell. Quaron had mistaken Lith's speed for a spell whereas it was only due to his boosted physical prowess.
'What the heck is this guy?' Quaron thought. 'The fight has barely started, yet I'm already backed into a corner without even having the time to unsheathe my weapon. I didn't want to use Syrook's powers against a human but I've got no choice left.'
The Ranger opened his mouth as if he was about to yell but instead of words, a violent burst of Origin Flames came out. Just like his mana core, the mystical fire was bright blue yet several violet streaks brought it to the next level.
'Origin Flames? I thought he was a human. How could you make such a mistake, Solus?' Lith inwardly cursed.
He could still dodge them with Spirit Magic, but that would mean being forced to give an explanation later.
If he didn't, however, Lith would take a huge blow. The problem with Origin Flames wasn't just their destructive power but the fact that he would have to stop and extinguish them, giving the enemy the time to recover.
'He seems human. Without the Scanner spell or Invigoration, I can't see much from a distance. He might even be a hybrid as you were.' She replied. 'You can still move freely without earth and air magic. Use Light Mastery to conjure floating platforms to step on.'
'Excellent idea. It makes my plan even better.' Despite the surprise attack, Lith had already faced enough Origin Flames users to know what to do.
He hurled a jet stream of violet flames that clashed with Quaron's for a split second before exploding. Lith was in mid-air so the shockwave just pushed him back whereas Quaron was stuck to the city walls.
The conflagration pinned him in place, making it impossible for him to dodge the incoming burst of fire. To make matters worse, Lith's Origin Flames were stronger than his own so part of them had pierced through the explosion that now boosted their speed to that of a bullet.
"Are those two really human?" Many of those spectating to the fight asked to their neighbors.
The former Lieutenant Colonel Xolman Pelan was covered in a cold sweat, his neck hurting from the sharp movements necessary to pretend that he managed to follow the fight with his eyes.
'I really want Verhen to lose. His career and reputation would be destroyed and I would be the new commanding officer.. On the other hand, I don't want to fight Quaron.'
