By fusing all of their eyes into one, the Tyrants made their ability to absorb the elements almost as strong as that of a Balor and lessened the strain on their mana core.
Sucking a spell meant to cleanse it from the enemy’s energy signature and replace it with their own.
It cost mana and poisoned the Tyrant’s core, but the surprise effect of the instant counter made up for it. On top of that, Morok didn’t have to waste time or focus to prepare his spells because he could just use those of his enemies.
It was how he had butchered so many elves so quickly on his own. They had expected him to be stunned from crossing the Fringe’s border, whereas he had come out clear-headed, unleashing a couple of tier five spells as a welcome gift.
After that, he had finally let his fifth eye open without the risk of Awakening. His superior physical prowess combined with the ability to turn spells against their caster had done the rest.
Friya didn’t let the Morok’s elemental pillar go to waste. She rearranged the golden light from Dimensional Ruler so that it Warped the attack throughout the battlefield like a pinball. Dodging the pillar only meant to have it Warp again and appear from a blind spot.
The elves tried to Blink away, but their entry points became unstable and exploded in their faces, leaving them open to the multi-colored pillar that tore them apart before their sensitive ears could stop ringing.
“Remind me to never piss you off.” Morok said.
“Same.” Friya said amid pants. “Quylla is messing with the head of an elf, but she could use a hand.”
“What? If she’s in danger, why did you leave her alone?” He said in outrage.
“For the same reason you did. To clear the path ahead and not go back to square one right after managing to escape!”
“That was my job! Did you really think I would abandon you? I’m not my father!” Morok said.
“Yes, I did and I’m sorry for it. Now, do you want to go help her or stay here and argue with me?”
Meanwhile, inside the Fringe, M’Rael didn’t know that the moment he had turned toward Quylla, she had detached the silvery tendril from Friya and used it against the elf to affect his judgment.
The thoughts and the greed were his own, but Quylla used the mind link to fan their flames, turning them into obsession. Even her screams of pain were exaggerated to lull M’Rael into believing to have already won.
The pain caused by the Raging Sun that the elf had infused his equipment with kept her from weaving spells, but not from using her brain. Quylla slowly crawled back, trying to appear helpless and buy as much time as she could.
Nalrond needed a few seconds to get Friya out of the Fringe and a few more to clear his head before he could help her.
‘I need that wand. Once we understand its workings, the elves will be able to take back their rightful place on Mogar. On top of that, I will shove it up my ass.’ The last thought didn’t belong to M’Rael.
He quickly realized that something was wrong with him and quickly turned around. Only then did he notice that Friya’s hurricane was still butchering his men and that the silver tendril that once connected the two women was now stuck to his heel.
He froze in horror noticing that Friya was gone, the Rezar was casting a spell, and that for some reason, he was deaf.
“I Hushed your ears earlier, jackass. That’s why you can’t hear a thing.” M’Rael could see Quylla’s lips moving but nothing seemed to come out of them.
“If you’re wondering why I’m not speaking via the mind link, it’s because I want you to waste time thinking I’m casting a spell or something.” She said while moving her hands in random gestures.
“Treachery!” M’Rael said.
Both the Rezar and the human were using light magic and he was right in the middle. The elf lord lunged at Quylla, piercing her chest and her right lung until the tip of the blade came out of her back.
He used the strength of the air pressure to slam her on the ground and the heat of his blade to instantly cauterize the wound, keeping her alive. Soul Vision reassured him that the pain had broken her focus, but it couldn’t reveal that she had prepared solely healing spells to remain conscious.
Once his hearing returned, M’Rael infused his equipment with the tier Five War Mage spell, Devouring Nightmare. It was a mix of Darkness and Earth magic that after fully coating his armor, it would make him nigh-invulnerable to both magical and physical attacks.
Nalrond unleashed a flood of constructs that fell apart the moment they reached their target. Earth made the elf immovable while darkness ate at everything that came within one meter from him.
‘That’s it? It’s too weak to be an attack, unless…’ M’Rael turned around, noticing that part of the stream of hard-light had circled around him to pick up Quylla and move her close to the border.
He unleashed a tier five Light Mastery spell, Sunspot, from one of his magic holding rings. It created two sets of hands, each one as big as a car, enveloped by a shroud of darkness that dimmed the hard-light comprising them.
The first set of hands went to retrieve the human while the second stopped Nalrond’s spell with their open palms and moved forward to capture him as well. The Rezar recalled all the constructs he had generated, breaking them down to reassemble them into a form more suitable for battle.
Ropes of light wrapped around both sets of hands, tightening their grip the more Nalrond clenched his hands. Using a tier four single elemental spell against a tier five that employed two elements required finesse.
The Rezar didn’t have the time to weave something more powerful nor a single piece of magical equipment, forcing him to clutch at straws. Nalrond went as close as he could to the silvery barrier to buy one more second.
“It’s useless.” M’Rael said while his construct reached Nalrond’s and grabbed Quylla by the legs, making her scream in agony. “The moment you get out, my forces stationed on the other side will capture you. Just like it happened to your friends.”
The Rezar grunted with effort, without bothering to reply. Darkness needed time to damage the hard-light ropes, time that he used to gauge the skill of his opponent.
Elves had spent centuries honing their Light Mastery, but between their lack of real combat experience and the fact that their teaching method allowed only the most talented members of their race to learn it, Nalrond managed to spot flaws in the construct.
The ropes regrouped near the joints of the hands and attacked the area around them. Even an amateur would realize that flexible parts would be weaker than the rest and train until they found a solution.
Only a master, however, would know that doing that caused an imbalance in the structure. Just reinforcing the joints wasn’t enough because it made the amount of light element in their vicinity thinner and more brittle.
Nalrond only needed to open a single crack to make the structure leak mana and get weaker, allowing him to open more cracks in a vicious cycle that turned Sunspot into a bunch of sparks of light.
