Darkness needed time to corrode such a construct whereas Immortal Fetters needed only a second to unleash its effects. The chains seeped inside the Horseman’s body, ignoring the crystal armor and weighing her down with the power of a tier five gravity spell.
At the same time, the six elements stored inside the chains flooded Night’s body, creating a mana flow opposite to her own and making it impossible for her to use magic.
“What the heck is this?” The Horseman plunged to the ground as her wings were no longer capable of sustaining her weight.
Her armor now felt as heavy as a mountain and moving her spear required her full strength. Her superior battle experience had become useless since even performing a feint required a swiftness of movement she no longer had.
Instead of answering, Lith took a full breath and unleashed a jet stream of bright blue Origin Flames at Night. He couldn’t use them before since Origin Flames required close range and they didn’t move faster than he could hurl them.
On top of that, every failed attack with Origin Flames would leave Lith breathless and create a perfect opening for a long-range weapon like Thorn. Now, however, Night couldn’t dodge and her spear moved so slowly that Lith could follow its movements.
The Horseman channeled the darkness magic that flowed through her real body, the black crystal embedded in her host’s chest, to conjure another thick barrier. Immortal Fetters slowed and lessened the energy flow, but it was still enough to block most of the Flames.
“Remarkable, truly remarkable. Achieving a bright blue core at such a young age is a rare feat.” Night felt no pain and focused solely on conjuring as much power as she could to get rid of the pesky chains.
Immortal Fetters had the power of six tier five offensive spells and one true magic array, but a Horseman’s mana core could do much more. On top of that, Yurial’s Hexagram couldn’t absorb any more spells to recharge the chains whereas new darkness element fueled Night’s abilities by the second.
It was only a matter of time before the Fetters lost the tug of war against the living corruption that the Black Night was.
Lith hurled one stream of Origin Flames after the other, but between the crystal armor and the black aura, they inflicted little damage. Then, he used War to decapitate the Horseman, just to see a crystal tendril reattach the still-mocking head.
“Has anyone ever told you that to destroy a cursed object it takes the power of a Guardian and that the Horsemen are above any living legacy that any race can make?” Night laughed at his efforts and lunged her Thorn in a cross counter.
She had no need to defend. No matter the damage, as long as her crystal remained intact, Night would always return whole.
Lith cursed his bad luck as Thorn pierced through his left shoulder and wing, turning them both into shreds. With finesse off the table, the Horseman had no problem turning the battle into a slugfest.
She didn’t even try to dodge, preferring to collect her strength for the moment when Lith put his weight into the strike and then hitting him back while War pierced her flesh.
Such a suicidal tactic would have been impossible for someone without an almost immortal body, something that Lith had never faced whereas Night had spent centuries exploiting.
“What’s the matter, dragon boy? Are we not feeling so hot anymore?” The Horseman said with a cruel grin on her face.
While Lith used Invigoration to recuperate, she managed to stand up. Thorn remained at her side while Night focused on amplifying the effect of the darkness magic coursing through her body to get rid of Immortal Fetters.
‘Solus, analysis.’ Lith hated to admit it, but Faluel was right.
That fight had made it clear how co-dependent they were from each other. Against opponents beyond their level, Solus needed his power and shrewdness as much as Lith needed her ingenuity and tactical expertise.
‘Things aren’t going well on my side either. Our enemies are elder undead, not small fries. They know the importance of the array to stop our reinforcements and are giving their lives to protect the seal.
‘As for Night, there is no mana geyser we can draw power from nor does she have a weak point that we can exploit. Yet there is a way. Stop aiming for her host and focus on her crystal core.
‘She can endlessly regenerate her host, but her power core can be overloaded or damaged. Dawn had to run away when our combined Origin Flames cracked her crystal.’ Solus said.
‘What do you think I’ve been trying to do until now? She moves the damn crystal and because she has the same energy signature of her host, I can’t pinpoint it.’ Lith replied.
‘Well, here’s my plan…’ Solus explained.
She needed to say just a few words before Lith could follow her reasoning and connect the dots. He took a deep breath of Invigoration, using the energy to supercharge the last Final Sunset stored inside his magic holding ring.
“Darkness magic again? Has the damage to your brain made you forget who you’re fighting against or are you just clutching at straws?” Night said as she used a powerful stream of darkness element to counter the raging river of black flames that was burning the grass and charring the ground around her.
Once again, the Horseman’s ability to conjure massive amounts of darkness element made her immune to one of the undead’s innate weaknesses and protected her from the tier five spell as if it was just a spring breeze.
To do that despite Immortal Fetters, however, the Black Night had to stop eroding the chains and focus solely on her barrier. She saw Lith taking another deep breath and strengthened the darkness shroud even more in anticipation of the second wave.
“Do what you want. I can do this all night-” War pierced the barrier’s core, using its World Mirror ability to scatter the darkness and cutting her short.
Night cursed as the black flames melted the nearby stones and finally reached her armor, damaging more than just her host. Yet she needed a single swing of Thorn to push the angry blade away and renew her protection.
Just like Lith wanted.
Even someone as skilled as Nigh would create an opening while carrying out a serious attack so Lith exploited her move to counter with War, piercing Night’s chest exactly where her crystal core was hidden.
As Solus had said, the crystal core had the ability to conjure and harness the protective darkness magic, not the host. That meant that Lith just had to force Night to use so much energy that he would be able to follow its flow back to the source.
Night shivered in pain due to War’s bite and struck back, but Lith had already stepped back. She failed to understand his strategy until Lith used the deep breath not for Invigoration, but to hurl a jet-stream of Origin Flames along the path opened by War.
A path clear from flesh and crystal armor, leading straight to the exposed living legacy that was Night’s real body. The shiver turned into an agonizing scream as the Origin Flames attacked the enchantments that gave her life.
Thanks to Laov for his gift.
