Chapter 3818: The Power of the Elements (Part 1)
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Four wings burned on the back of the Engine. Earth and air shrouded the membranous wings while fire and water sprang forth in the space between the membranous and the feathered wings.
Lith had no awareness of any of them. His empty lungs stopped producing Primordial Flames, and with their disappearance, Earthly Vault’s aura recovered part of its effects.
"You’re mine now, traitor!" Ruugat jumped forward as the final tongues of white fire went out.
"Yeah, right. And what do you think we’ve been waiting for?" Dawn yelled as she and Vladion stood between Ruugat and Lith, attacking the lost city from either side. "We stepped away only because we didn’t want to mess up with whatever Lith was doing.
"There was no point in throwing spells at you if they would have been weakened by his Flames and weakened them in turn. Now you are fair game again, old man!"
During the short respite, the Horseman had let her steed, Sunrise, restore her mana core and body while she conjured multiple Tower Tier spells.
Several colossal constructs generated by Morning Star struck Ruugat’s four limbs, breaking his charge. At the same time, the Horseman and the First Vampire also unleashed their respective Blade Tier Spells, Rising Run and Roaring Dragon, aiming them at the lost city’s head.
Dawn’s goal was to inflict Ruugat wounds grievous enough to trigger the survival protocols of his pseudo cores. At that point, the self-repair arrays of the lost city would prioritize the damage closest to the nucleus and expose its position.
Killing Ruugat was impossible, and the allied forces lacked the power to tear him apart piece by piece.
’If we want to seal this annoying bastard away, we have to find the nucleus holding his pseudo cores.’ Vladion said via the mind link. ’Sure, Ruugat can move it throughout his body freely, but we only need to find his nucleus once to deplete its energy reserves with a few Annihilations.
’Lost cities are nigh-invincible only because their colossal size and terrifying powers make it impossible to locate their pseudo cores. Once you do, even someone as big as Ruugat becomes just a tough nut to crack!’
Ruugat took the attacks head-on. All of them. The Traughen’s bolts of light and darkness, Syrah’s claws, the War Mages’ spells, the Wardens’ arrays, and the Awakened’s Annihilations.
’I need to get rid of the traitorous lost city first.’ He inwardly snarled.
Ruugat felt no sting from the accumulating damage, but his internal arrays deafened him with their alarms and almost covered his vision with countless system failure notifications.
’I would have already won if not for him. I can’t pour what’s left of my strength into a killer move with the risk that this winged gnat ruins it like he has already done!’
The lost city’s arms shapeshifted into harpoons, and every meter of his large body became covered in Adamant hooks. He needed to trap the Engine and make sure it couldn’t escape.
Ruugat planned to use the Engine as a shield while he recovered his strength and let those pesky Awakened kill it for him. The lost city lacked the strength to deal with the Engine and the allied forces.
His only option was to pit them against each other and dispose of what was left.
As for Lith, he was out of breath and short on mana. He had channeled so much power, taken so much damage, and fought so hard that even with the full might of Menadion’s tower empowering him, Lith could barely stand.
Ruugat, instead, was just a huge artifact. His barriers were weaker and his power core almost empty, but he moved as fast as when the fight had just begun. Ragnarök was still trapped inside his chest, and Lith had no time to waste trying to pull it out.
’What do I do?’ Lith couldn’t just turn around and run.
Not only was he slower than Ruugat, but his allies formed a tight circle around the two contenders. One of his steps would have killed dozens of soldiers and disrupted the rest of the battle formation.
’What do I do?’ Lith thought as the lost city stepped forward, and Dawn and Vladion flew back not to be trampled by his charge. ’I wish I could do like them. Dodging is easy when the enemy doesn’t care about you.’
Then, his eyes noticed his shadow elongating due to the radiance emitted by the Horseman flying high behind his head.
’Ryla!’ Lith called upon the Fomor and the darkness of the Elemental Storage.
Morok and the Balors weren’t the only ones who could hear the melody in the world energy. Lith could listen to it too, and desperation led him to a gamble.
’Okay, but I don’t know if my black eye has any ability. I just use it to shoot darkness.’ The Fomor said.
’Time to find out!’ Lith’s words echoed in her mind at the same moment Ruugat caught up to the Tiamat and broke through the Engine’s defense with sheer might, trapping him in a piercing embrace.
Or rather, the lost city tried to trap the Tiamat.
One moment Ruugat’s detection arrays confirmed that the Engine was right in front of him, and the next Lith slipped through his arms, turning into a black puddle.
The shadow behind him rose from the ground and gained a third dimension, while Ruugat’s prisoner collapsed into a blot on the ground.
’Behind me?’ The lost city detected the enemy’s new position but found no trace of a dimensional opening. ’How could he Blink? I still have the space compressing array active!’
The black eye had no dimensional power. It had simply switched the shadow with the body that cast it without ever making either one disappear. The right feathered wing turned black, shrouded in the excess power it failed to contain.
’Ryla!’ Lith emptied the second-last container of the Elemental Storage and threw himself at Ruugat’s exposed back in a shoulder charge.
’Oh, screw it!’ The Fomor was as confused as she was utterly annoyed. ’At this point, why not?’
Ryla was confused because she activated her silver eyes without knowing what to expect, and utterly annoyed because she could feel its powers taking shape.
’I tried for countless hours to use my black and silver eyes. All my ancestors tried. All the ancient Balors tried before their fall, yet Lith is the one who is going to succeed?’ She inwardly grumbled.
’Not to be that girl and ruin your rant, but our mind link is still active.’ Solus felt a warm feeling fill her energy form as the light element spread across the Engine. ’Also, you have no way to know if the ancient Balors failed.
’The old trolls had learned Light Mastery, but the current ones have lost that knowledge. The same has probably happened to you guys as well. Ancient Balors were, well, ancient. Reverted Balors and Fomors are newborns.’
’Point taken.’ Ryla had to admit that the Tyrant bloodline’s research had started millennia ago, but no one before Glemos had succeeded.
On top of that, only the most recent generations of Balors and the Fomors had six eyes. Until a while ago, most Balors had four eyes tops, and Fomors didn’t exist at all.
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