Zinya had many other questions but they all had to way because it was Salaark’s time to make her move.
“Nice trick.” She replied. “I admit that this bloodline ability would have cornered me, millennia ago. Now, however, I know better!”
She conjured a stream of magic of the opposite elements to counter the Cursed Spells, returning them to their natural state. Thanks to her Guardian core, Salaark could use body casting so the faster she moved the faster she weaved her spells.
Gravity blocked Gravity and Dimensional Magic countered Dimensional Magic. The now regular tier five elemental spells she tanked with no worry, barely making a grunt when a particularly strong one hit her.
“Oh, please, that was just a setup and you fell for it!” The choir of Tezkas said, appearing everywhere at the same time.
While Salaark was focused on not letting Gravity crush her and dimensional tears rip her to shreds, the nine Tezkas had surrounded her, blocking every dodge and block path. A flurry of hands and feet claws opened deep wounds on the Phoenix’s body while the nine tails impaled her.
Feathers flew and blood gushed out as the Guardian felt strength abandoning her body.
‘This fucker knew he couldn’t beat me with magic. He created a distraction to hit me with the physical might of nine Guardians.’ Salaark though. ‘I must admit that’s a bit too much even for me.’
She took a deep breath and her body was suddenly set ablaze. The tails stuck inside her body burned and so did all the following hits. At the same time, by using her bloodline ability, Rebirth Flames, she converted her mana into matter.
Her wounds healed faster than Tezka could open new ones whereas the Flames managed to inflict upon him major burns despite the layers of protective magic surrounding his bodies.
“It’s over, old fox.” Salaark said as the violet of the flames turned white and so did the red of her feathers. “It was brilliant of you to add a new step to our fight, but now that I’ve taken my true form you are no match for me.”
The Tezkas stepped away, a few of them focused on healing while the others tried everything they could yet it was pointless. The white flames burned mana, dimensional openings, and even Cursed Spells.
The roaring fire shone like a sun, devouring everything the Suneater could throw at the Guardian.
Tezka whimpered, his snout curling down in frustration.
For one fraction of a second. Then, it turned up into a literal wolfish smile as he laughed from the depth of his heart.
“Did you forget your own words? I have still one trick you know left.” Then he sent this message to the spectators. “Kids, this is for you. This is the true form of my prized Chaos Dimension!”
The air, ground, and light started to quake, giving Salaark an eerie feeling. The space all around the contenders filled with cracks, as if reality was one big mirror and an army was punching at it.
“Seriously?” Salaark scoffed in annoyance, but she used Soul Vision to understand what was happening. “This is what you did the last time and your precious spell failed against my white flames.
“This is when you left and we ended in a draw. You couldn’t hurt me and I couldn’t catch you. Yet that was millennia ago. Before I fully mastered the Primordial Flames and my full power as a Guardian. I’m much stronger now!”
She unleashed the Primordial Flames all around her, burning Tezka’s spell down to its smallest rune.
“And so am I!” The nine Tezkas went back to be one, he needed the masteries over all elements in one body for his next move.
His hands moved in unison, each forming a semi-circle that mirrored the other.
The white flames stopped as if they had hit a wall and then Salaark crashed against the ground like a meteor. Gravity had been amplified by a thousand-fold yet the sand around her was unaffected.
The clouds and wind were untouched by the spell’s effect as well. Even the ants who were feeling the fallen Phoenix with their antennas were unscathed by the spell.
“What the fuck?” Salaark used raw physical strength to get up, unleashing a blast of fire from each of her wings and a Guardian Tier Spirit Spell, Lord of War, from her mouth.
A hail of emerald bullets each the size of a building and possessing enough destructive power to vaporize a lake bolted against the Suneater at Mach 10.
“I’m disappointed in you, little sparrow!” Tezka weaved his hands and shifted the weight on his feet as he shifted gravity itself.
All of Salaark’s attacks were imbued with willpower and would chase their target to the edge of Mogar yet they failed to come even close to the Suneater. Space was distorted around him so that the spells failed to pinpoint his position, swirling around him without ever finding him.
Tezka quickly performed hand signs, using both fake and true magic to control and alter the already-formed Chaos Dimension.
A red Warp sucked one of the bursts of Primordial Flames, a white Warp took the other, and a black Warp sucked the Lord of War in.
Salaark instantly replied by compressing the space around her, but it was useless. Chaos Warp didn’t bend space, it pierced through it. The only thing her spell achieved was to further degrade the space and make it unstable around her.
The Chaos Warp also opened the path for the following Decay Warp and Cinder Warp. Lord of War hit Salaark from point-blank range, its mana tainted by Chaos enough to hurt even its caster.
Decay Warp exploded right after releasing the Primordial Flames, turning them into a massive conflagration that was impossible to dodge. Cinder Warp added kinetic energy to the second burst of Flames, doubling its speed and making it hit hard like a physical blow.
The Mother of All Phoenixes was blasted off her feet, spinning through the air in a drizzle of blood and feathers. She tried to Spirit Blink but due to the Cursed Warps the space was unstable and the dimensional corridor blew up in her face.
The members of the Nest and the Praetorian Guard gasped, needing sheer discipline to not step into the fight as their mother, mentor, and Overlord was tossed around like a ragdoll.
Tezka kept adjusting the Cursed Gates so that they kept following the helpless Guardian until they delivered the last bit of their deadly cargo.
Salaark survived only because her body was still wrapped inside a thick layer of Primordial Flames that took off the brunt of the three attacks.
‘Good gods!’ Surtr and Sinmara were shocked to their bones. ‘Now I understand why Thrud ran away even though she had the Arthan Set with her. I wouldn’t be able to survive any of Tezka’s hits and I’m a bright white core.
‘Even with my best equipment, I don’t think the outcome would be any different. Thrud had no chance against him.’
‘Fuck us sideways!’ Lith and Solus fared even worse and Kamila with them.
‘Solus, what are our chances if we were to face either of them while above a mana geyser and with the tower to back us?’ Lith asked.
