To make matters worse, while the darkness-infused constructs started to wrap themselves around Lith’s limbs and slipped past his defenses, the Nightwalker was relentless in his attack.
Not only was Ulma the better swordsman, hitting more and more often as Dark Mastery restricted Lith’s movements, but also the bolts of lightning and ice coming from the elemental spheres phased through him.
Being made from his mana, the various spells did no harm to each other and their caster. By standing in front of Lith, Ulma blinded his vision and kept his sword busy while the projectiles hammered at him from every direction.
Lith conjured another Spirit Barrier but it was instantly destroyed. The Nightwalker lunged with his blade, forcing Lith to block from an awkward position. Then, he had God of Nightstorm exploit the still-clashing blades as lightning rods.
The stream of electricity struck them both, but while Ulma was unaffected, Lith had to use everything he had to limit the spasms. It slowed his reaction time and allowed the Nightwalker to kick him in the chest with the might of a Divine Beast.
Lith was sent flying back, crashing against a wall and opening a few meters deep crater. The four tri-elemental spheres following Urma had the frozen hurricane follow Lith.
The wind pushed him down while the water coating the wall made it slippery. Not only did it make it hard for Lith to get out, but the cold waves also turned the water into a thick layer of ice that glued him to the stones.
Bolts of lightning rained on him without a break, to keep him stunned. All of them carried the darkness element that ate at him and his equipment inside and out.
The Nightwalker had Nightblood move to the tip of his blackened blade, to focus the destructive power of his bloodline ability in a single point.
‘If this gets past Verhen’s armor, the darkness element will be the least of his problems.’ Ulma thought. ‘My mana will infect his core and my life force taint his own. It should be enough to kill him, especially if I manage to hit near his heart.’
Lith’s body was bruised and battered whereas the Nightwalker’s aim was true. Held by a trembling arm, Ragnarök managed to move the tip of the enemy’s blade just enough for the hit to not be lethal.
Ulma smiled, seeing his blade pierce through the Voidwalker armor and Lith’s sternum. The perfect place to release Nightblood and have it ravage the lungs and the heart at the same time.
***
Meanwhile, on the first floor, Solus and the Void had chosen a different approach. After clearing the area with the help of Lith, the Voidfeather, and the Demons, Solus’ goal was to find the perfect spot to conjure the tower.
“There’s no point in fighting the undead.” She said. “It’s much better for me to focus on the mana geyser. Once it belongs to us and the tower takes form, the fight will be over.”
“Agreed.” The Void checked one last time that no enemy was left and then hit the floor with the full strength of his Adamant body.
The room was filled with the six-eyed Demons left while the others waited outside. The Demons moved in synch with the Void, each blow generating a shockwave that made the surroundings shake.
They were exactly above the middle of the mana geyser and the deeper they went, the closer they would get to the motherlode. It took them four hits to make the floor collapse into the room below.
At that point, the rest of the Demons swarmed from above and killed the undead while they were still trapped under the rubble. Once they were done, they rushed out of the doors, drawing attention to themselves and killing more enemies.
“This is highly inefficient.” The Void grumbled. “We are splitting our numbers too much. We can’t win this way.”
“Sure we can.” Solus shrugged. “The array control room must be right below us. If we can shut it down, there will be no need to slowly assimilate the power of the geyser.
“The Demons just need to buy us time.” Solus hammered at the floor, its self-repair enchantments unable to keep up with the Fury’s might. “One more. We just need to clear one more room and then Lith and I will become unstoppable.”
Solus would have liked to say “we”, but she didn’t want the Void to think she was referring to him.
She still had her doubts about giving the sides of Lith’s personality so much freedom but she couldn’t deny the perks of using the memory crystals that way.
“What about me?” The Void pointed at himself.
“You are not part of the team.” She replied with a scoff.
“Lith disagrees with you. Got to go. Bye.” The light of consciousness disappeared from the construct’s eyes and its body reverted to the Vagrash form.
Without the Void, Trouble couldn’t keep its humanoid form.
“Locrias!” Solus called and the Demon answered.
“Yes, my liege?”
“Alert Valia to be ready to take charge of the Voidfeather’s squad. Something is going on and Lith might recall him at any moment.” She said.
Solus couldn’t control the Demons of the Darkness by herself because it was Lith’s exclusive bloodline ability. With the Void gone so were the black chains connecting him to the rest of the army.
Even if the branch of the Undead Court had no dimensional blocking array, giving communication amulets to Demons would have been pointless. The chains acted as a better and faster way to communicate.
Locrias used them to inform Valia and take charge of Solus’ troops.
“Can you tell me what’s going on with Lith?” Solus asked.
“You can just use your mind link if you are curious.” Locrias replied.
“I meant by contacting the Demons with him, not him. I don’t want to risk distracting Lith during a fight.”
Locrias’s gaze went blank for a while until he said: “Fuck me sideways!”
***
Lith coughed out a mouthful of blood as the combined effect of the highly concentrated darkness element released inside his body, mana, and life force turned his internal organs into mush.
His skin blackened and his veins bulged as the essence of the Nightwalker invaded his bloodstream. Lith’s eyes rolled back, leaving only the white of his eyes visible. Then, his body faded into nothingness.
“I won!” Ulma burst into savage laughter. “We concocted a huge teamwork plan but I alone was enough! I can’t wait to see the faces of those fuckers when they notice that I’m wearing Verhen’s equipment.
“A Davross’ weapon is a dream-” The moment the Nightwalker grabbed Ragnarök’s hilt, the spikes pierced through his skin and his joy was replaced by agony.
The Reverse Imprint skill flooded Ulma’s hand with Lith’s energy signature, achieving the same as the Nightwalker’s combination of spells and bloodline abilities.
Ulma’s hand and arm bloated in quick succession. If not for the dense darkness energy fighting the process every millimeter of the way, the Nightwalker would have died on the spot.
Instead, he managed to call upon Dark Mastery and cut his own arm at the shoulder before it was too late.
