Chapter 2050 Time’s Up (Part 2)
Thrud’s generals had done a nice work building up the mother of all storms but that also meant that arcs of electricity could randomly appear anywhere.
Their light blinded the fighters, their noise deafened if not even burst the eardrums of those too close to their origin point, and anyone who got even grazed by a bolt of lightning would fall to the ground all hot and crispy.
On top of that, in the chaos of the battle even defending against an attack could be fatal for your own allies.
The spells that the Awakened used and especially Silverwing’s produced powerful shockwaves when blocked. If another unit was caught by them in the middle of a maneuver, their formation would crumble and the opponent would quickly dispose of them.
Dodging was even worse since the spells would travel for hundreds of meters if not kilometers before losing cohesion. The smartest of the Awakened always aimed their spells so that they would line up with at least three enemy units that would be hit if they missed their original target.
“I need to re-join my comrades to use Silverwing’s spells.” Faluel said. “Try to stay close enough to me that I can help you if something bad happens but far away enough to not be caught by the aftermath of a clash.”
“Where does this leave me and our deal?” The Hyperion asked.
“Stick to Lith and make sure that nothing bad happens to him. I can take care of myself.” The Hydra’s seven heads scoured the skies, searching for her unit before bolting away with a flap of her wings.
Meanwhile, Lith used his breathing technique to bring back the Demons of the Fallen who had lost their bodies during the clash with the Thunderborne and recharge his golems.
He knew that each use of Invigoration made its next use less effective, but the clock was ticking. Violent high-altitude winds made it difficult for him to stand still amid the storm and quickly pushed the clouds forward.
The storm front had already reached the plains in front of Belius and couldn’t be allowed to move any further.
‘If it gets closer to the city, once it meets the hot winds the ensuing storm will hit both Thrud’s army and Belius. The problem is that while an army can just retreat a city can’t move. We need to stop it now!’ Lith said via a mind link.
‘Thanks for the information, captain obvious.’ Crank replied with a sneer. ‘Any idea how to achieve something that not even the Council’s forces managed to?’
Yellow and emerald flashes from the bolts of lightning and the conflicting Silverwing’s spells blinded the Tiamat as he turned his head around to study their predicament.
Each one of Thrud’s soldiers was weak compared to Council elders like Faluel, but they had the advantage of surprise and a good plan backing them. The Kingdom had prepared for a battle of might and magic, but it was ill-prepared to face a natural disaster.
To make matters worse, the Mad Queen had instructed her troops in seven-men units as well. Fake mages were incapable of casting Silverwing’s spells, making the bulk of the Kingdom’s forces and even the Queen’s Corpse useless.
Thrud knew that the seven fake Awakened would have been split between the three cities to guarantee them the same degree of protection but this way the elite unit couldn’t show its true prowess.
To use their best spells and strategies, all seven of them needed to be together but that would have meant leaving two targets exposed. The members of the Queen’s Corpse were doing their best to support the Awakened, taking the place of the injured to not make the formation crumble.
Yet the lack of synergy between them reduced the prowess of the spells whereas Thrud’s soldiers worked like a well-oiled machine. The final result was that the Council forces were still winning the battle but too slowly for it to matter.
The enemy Awakened had placed arrays throughout the thunderclouds to keep them packed and not let the accumulated energy scatter in case their focus was otherwise required.
Even now that Thrud’s followers were fighting for their lives, the arrays worked akin to an autopilot.
‘Solus, analysis.’ Lith took a deep breath, using the burning flames within his body to shrug off the cold that was quickly sapping his strength. ‘How the heck can the three of us have any meaningful impact on the conflict?’
Not only had his Tiamat form inherited Leegaain’s weakness to cold, but he also felt overwhelmed by the battle taking place in front of his eyes. In the past, his missions had always had a clear goal.
In Kulah he had to rescue Phloria and Quylla. In Kolga Lith just needed to get rid of the Forbidden Sun. In Lightkeep, Jakra was all that stood between him and victory. By knowing himself and his opponent, Lith had always planned in advance and ensured his victory.
Now, however, there were too enemies and too many variables. On top of that, he had no time to prepare and the storm front moved forward by the second.
‘Helping the other Awakened is a no-go.’ Solus replied while standing on his left shoulder, using physical contact to slow down the energy loss due to keeping her human form.
‘We would just mess up with their tempo and ruin whatever strategy they are employing.’ She shared with him her mana sense, showing Lith how the members of the seven-men units were constantly exchanging thoughts with mind links.
‘The safest option would be to take an enemy unit by ourselves. You, Crank, and I have practiced Silverwing’s spells together. Now that your Demons are back to their full strength, we have the manpower we need.’
‘It sounds as safe as pointless.’ Lith replied. ‘Blocking a single group of Emperor Beasts will hardly slow down the storm front.’
‘Then there’s only one route left.’ Solus sighed sharply. ‘We must dispose of the Divine Beasts. It’s only thanks to the Life Maelstrom that Thrud’s soldiers can keep up with the Council and if not for Doom Tide, the arrays would be incapable of moving.
‘The Divine Beasts are the backbone and the heart of Thrud’s plan. Remove them and her plan will fall apart.’ She showed him how most of the Emperor Beasts just fueled the arrays but had no control over them.
They were nothing but a diversion to keep the Council forces to realize who really used Doom Tide in the heat of the battle. Between the onslaught of spells filling the sky, the arrays, and the hundreds of different energy signatures, using Life Vision only showed a blurred multi-colored mess.
‘Great Mother almighty!’ Crank thought, scaring Lith and Solus so much that the mind link almost crumbled. ‘How did you figure this much in just a few seconds? Even if I had a mystical sense as good as yours, if you didn’t point things out to me, I would have never noticed.’
He was too busy dodging energy blasts and lightning arcs to focus on anything but his survival.
‘Fuck me sideways.’ Lith and Solus thought in unison, this time making sure to keep it private. ‘We had forgotten that this moron is part of our mind link now.’
