Another array was quickly forming, using the four as its cornerstones. The magical formation seemed to draw in the light element from the world energy, casting a twilight over the area even though the sun was still high in the sky.
Not willing to discover its effects, Lith Blinked near one of the thralls, the weak link in the magical chain. Unfortunately, the four were each looking in a different direction, leaving no blind spot.
The moment Lith appeared they all turned toward him, each unleashing from the formation between them not fire, but pure heat condensed in a scorching white beam. It vaporized earth and stones on contact, leaving only a diamond-shaped hole the size of a man in its wake.
The four smiled in triumph and then screamed in pain. Lith was still alive and stabbing, right behind the other human thrall. Ruin pierced the man's heart while Lith's free hand squashed the head like grape, making any kind of recovery impossible.
'Can you believe that they tried to pull a mind link trap on us, Solus?' Lith thought, Blinking away to safety.
'Beating us at our own game? Those amateurs had no chance.' Solus replied with a sneer.
One of the risks of using a too deep mind link was that along with thoughts, pain would be shared as well as anything that afflicted the brain, like the feeling of having your head squashed.
Moreover, casting together an array was a mammoth task that required perfect synch between the mages.
The violent loss of one of their members had also caused an unbalance in the spell that spiraled out of control and resulted in a conflagration of the stored energy. The three were still blinded by pain and unable to react in time.
A wild spell was dangerous by nature. It was capable of harming its caster even though it bore their energy signature. A wild array was much worse since even perfect magical formations were unable to distinguish friend from foe.
Lith sighed, sad at the idea of having sacrificed precious loot in the line of duty. Aside from the scorched crater in the ground, there was no trace left of his most recent enemies.
'There, there. Three out of six is still good, plus you have saved the Ranger. That should amount to something. For the Kingdom, I mean.' Solus thought, trying to cheer him up.
Lith thanked her and conjured a Warp Steps to reach his colleague, yet he found nothing but his fake camp waiting for him on the other side. The moment Lith took his army amulet out of his pocket dimension to check about Acala's whereabouts, the rune of his handler started to blink.
"Ranger Verhen, do you copy?" Kamila's voice sounded worried.
"Affirmative. I've rescued the missing Ranger Acala and disposed of the enemies pursuing him."
"All of them?" Her voice turned from worried to surprised.
"All of them. I've lost visual of Ranger Acala, though. Where is he?"
"Flying for his life toward the nearest army base with a Gate." Kamila said. "He's telling his handler an interesting story, according to which Acala was against a group of powerful enemies that forced him on the run.
"He's also spent quite a few words about your idiotic bravado that cost you your life. According to Acala, your communication rune is still online because they have either captured you or are about to kill you."
"I guess this man redefines the concept of 'being wrong'." Lith shrugged. "Do you think you can persuade him to give me all the information he possesses? I've got nowhere so far, and I've got no one left to interrogate."
"I'm still happily confused seeing that you are alive and well despite what stated in Acala's dramatic report, but I can do better. I'll have him go back, so you can ask him anything you want. Once you're done with him, I expect a full report.
"I'm going to print it in triplicate and use it to slap off the face of Acala's handler his contemptuous smirk.
"You should have seen him while he described the entire office how my famous Ranger Verhen got himself killed like an amateur, whereas his unremarkable Ranger Acala discovered a plot that could jeopardize the Kingdom."
Kamila wore her usual gentle smile while talking with Lith, but the twitch in her left eye told him that her colleague was in a world of trouble.
While waiting for Acala, Lith lighted a fire and put up a water kettle. Judging from their brief encounter, his fellow Ranger had undergone a lot of hardships. Lith needed to know what was happening, and Acala was the only one who could point him in the right direction.
Hot tea with some liquor was the best way to help him relax and loosen his tongue. The man had already lost a lot of face by disappearing for so long and running away from enemies he claimed to be mighty.
Upon learning that Lith had easily dispatched them and was about to steal his limelight, Acala might prove to be uncooperative.
'You always expect the worst from people, do you?' Solus sighed.
'Everyone is guilty until proven otherwise.' Lith nodded.
'By the way, aren't you curious about how the heck did those guys used advanced light magic? The first array they employed resembled Manohar's offensive spells, while the second one was more like a mix of light and fire magic.
'We've never seen anyone, not even the Mad Professor being able to mix the light element with anything but darkness.' He thought.
'True, but that's only because so far we've met only one person capable of using offensive light magic.' Solus pointed out.
'To answer your question, yes, I'm curious. I'm also ready to bet that their ability was linked to the external source of mana they shared. Do you remember when I told you that the white aura surrounding them had an energy signature of its own?
'Well, the vampires bore two energy signatures, one from their blood core and the other from the white light, while the thralls bore three of them. Their own mana core, a blood core from their sire, and the white light as well.'
'And energy signature without a core?' Lith was flabbergasted. 'What was its power source and how the heck can vampire survive under direct sunlight?'
'Now you're asking too much from me. The fight lasted barely twenty seconds and I was more focused on keeping you alive than asking them trivia. By the way, we have guests.' Solus telepathically pointed at a figure flying in their direction.
Ranger Acala was a man in his early thirties, 1.78 meters (5'10") tall with already a few grey hairs mixed with his chestnut hair and a beard of a brown so light to look almost red.
His slouched shoulders made him look tired and dejected while he neared the campfire, a feeling that was further emphasized by the lines around his green eyes.
"Sorry for leaving you for dead, but in our line of work you have no idea how many conceited youngsters with a death wish I've met." Acala said. The two Rangers shook hands before sitting on the stone chairs that Lith had conjured.
Acala looked at Lith with respect, more surprised by the second of not finding a single scratch on him. He sipped his spiked tea for a while, waiting for Lith to explain how he had managed to survive.
