“My Eyes.” Lith managed to lie while telling the truth. “They allowed me to perceive the sudden elemental imbalance. World energy contains all elements whereas no spell can use more than two.”
“Damn, Tiamats are amazing. Maybe later we could arrange for a private study session?” Azhom’s voice was sensual and her touch delicate as she caressed Lith’s arm while removing her armor.
Alas, the Lich had forgotten about her corpse-like appearance, making her flirting attempts look out of a horror story. Her tattered robe would have revealed most of her ample bosom, if only there was still meat attached to the bones.
“No.” Lith said with a cold tone that brooked no reply. “Let’s move.”
The Lich’s pride was already wounded and the sniggering of her colleagues made things even worse.
Ryka, the only other woman in the group, conjured an ice mirror in front of Azhom, reflecting the rotten bits of flesh on her face, the soft curve of her exposed jawline, and the perfect symmetry of her skull.
“Thanks, sister.” Azhom misunderstood the gesture, found her confidence back, and completely forgot about the incident.
“No! I wasn’t complimenting your bone structure. I was pointing out that you lack flesh!” Ryka said in annoyance.
“Why should I wear flesh on a deadly mission? That’s a liability.” The Lich was already oblivious of her own seduction attempt and no one had the time and patience to remind her.
“Liches.” Xenagrosh sighed and for once she and Strider found a common ground.
***
A few kilometers later, a guttural howl resounded through the corridor in front of the Awakened. Maergron had limited control over his minions so there was no way to fool the senses of such powerful enemies.
“It seems our host has no more need for subtlety.” Zoreth extended the claws of Sky Piercer to the size of short swords while everyone else took their place in the battle formation.
The first to appear was a stampede comprised of cats, dogs, and medium-sized farm animals like sheep.
Behind them, humans and monsters alike ran like the wind. A flock of pigeons flew above their heads, filling the little space left in the corridor and making it impossible to Blink past them.
Yet no one cared about the cannon fodder. The Awakened focused their gaze on the thin green vines that ran all over the creature’s bodies like an external blood circulatory system.
With each step the creatures took, the vines connected the herd to the Garden for a brief moment, gifting them inhuman strength and carrying Maergron’s will. Monsters, humans, and animals all had green eyes with no sclera, proving their possession by the hand of the Fae.
‘We already know how this works but I doubt this will go the same as before.’ Azhom said via the mind link. ‘Turning them into undead is just one move. There must be at least two more we don’t know about.’
A barrage of tier two and three spells was enough to slaughter the herd the moment they came in sight, but as predicted, it didn’t mean much. Upon their death, the vines carried a Necromancy spell that raised them and fed the blood core with the power of the Garden.
It was enough to make the situation go from square one into the fire since the number of enemies was unchanged and their prowess was greater than when they were alive. Alas, what the Awakened had failed to predict was how many prisoners Maergron kept in his holding cells.
Despite the hail of deadly spells, the sorry bunch of living creatures managed to reach their targets, flooding them like a wave.
‘What the fuck?’ Each wave of Zoreth’s hand cut apart dozens of minions yet they didn’t care and kept running.
Just like the bats, they moved past the first line of defense and toward the exit like they were trying to escape.
‘There’s too many of them and they came from every direction. There’s no stopping them!’ Even Strider’s speed couldn’t keep up with so many attackers at the same time.
They were all much bigger than a bat so a single cut wasn’t enough to kill them. Not with the vines stitching the wounds and healing them the moment they were opened. Somehow, the vines carried part of the regenerative abilities of the Fae.
It made even decapitating an enemy or piercing their heart a minor inconvenience.
‘They want to surround us and cut off our only escape path.’ Lith said after a conventional Blink failed him.
Spirit Magic still worked, but the moment he tried a Spirit Blink, the uneven flow of world energy of the Garden flooded the entry and exit point of the dimensional door, upsetting the delicate balance it needed to work.
‘Then let’s stop them!’ Solus raised her hands, unleashing the tier four Light Mastery spell Nalrond had taught them after becoming an Agni, Sunshine.
The spell belonged to Dawn and it conjured a barrage of laser-like rays. Each one was as thick as an arm and as hot as a furnace, piercing through the wave of enemies and burning their flesh beyond recovery.
Alas, Lith was right but that was just one objective of the mad charge. The moment Sunshine killed the hosts, some of the vines detached from the corpses and fell upon the Awakened in the form of parasitic nets.
The vines restricted the Awakened’s movements with the strength Maergron had stolen from the Titania, making even Zoreth and Lith fell onto one knee. The vines slithered over the exposed skin and through the smallest fissures on the armors, forcing their way onto the new hosts.
It burned the flesh and poisoned the mana with Maergron’s energy signature, all the while drawing endless force from the Garden. The Abomination sides of Lith, Bytra, and Xenagrosh fed upon the vines and slowed their advance but there was too much world energy and they couldn’t absorb it quickly enough.
“Nice try, moron.” Except for Azhom, of course.
The Lich had no flesh, no veins, and her draining touch countered the effects of the vines enough to not make them hinder her movements. She cast a powerful pulse of darkness magic from her staff that she had programmed to avoid her allies.
The darkness magic filled the corridor, tainting the Garden and sapping the strength of vines, living, and undead alike.
***
“A Lich?” Maergron was going insane in frustration. “Why it had to be a damn Lich?”
The delay in the communication with his minions had slowed his reaction time long enough for the Awakened to get free from the vines and start the counterattack.
***
“Okay, now I’m pissed!” Zoreth took a deep breath and released a pillar of Origin Flames from her body, reducing the incoming wave into cinders.
Even though she had to limit the size of the pillar to avoid burning her companions, the Shadow Dragon managed to create a funnel in the corridor. It forced the enemies to step into the Flames or run into Strider’s blades.
The quick movements of the Zouwu weaved several runes each, conjuring one spell for every swing of his swords.
The spells were limited to tier three to contain their destructive power and guided by willpower so that none of them would miss their mark.
