Lith unleashed a barrage of Plague Arrows, against which Trou’Bleskamuz had no choice but to tank them.
The mana imbued inside his ice armor lessened the damage, but the residual darkness was still enough to make the Balor stumble and lose most of his momentum. The creature refused to yield and lunged at Lith with a conjured ice great sword.
Lith switched to a two handed grip while infusing the Gatekeeper with fire and darkness magic. He sidestepped the incoming attack and performed a horizontal slash to the neck.
Only then did Trou’Bleskamuz reveal that his moment of weakness was actually a ruse. He turned his tumble into a roll, dodging the Gatekeeper and regaining his footing while his opponent was still off balance.
The Balor lunged at Lith again, who pivoted on his feet by using the momentum from his failed attack. The resulting spin wasn’t enough to completely avoid the incoming strike, but it allowed him to adjust his stance and intercept the incoming blade.
Lith aimed the Gatekeeper at the great sword’s tip, to push it away with minimum effort and create the opening he needed to win that fight. He almost couldn’t believe his own eyes when the ice sword shattered on contact with the Gatekeeper, revealing a flaming blade blooming underneath its surface.
The ethereal fire blade ignored the bastard sword, keeping its trajectory unchanged.
Despite their brutish appearance and berserk fighting style, Balors weren’t stupid. They were just so powerful that they usually didn’t need clever strategies or tricks to dominate their opponents.
Resorting to one wounded Trou’Bleskamuz’s pride, but it was much better than the alternative. The fire sword crackled as it pierced the Skinwalker Amor’s enchanted defenses, producing the sizzling sound of roasted meat when it bit Lith’s flesh.
Thanks to Lith’s earlier small sidestep, the Balor had been unable to strike at the heart and had to settle for the shoulder. Not even earth fusion was enough to prevent the mystical flames from burning everything on their path.
Lith felt his left arm suddenly go limp. Even shutting down his pain receptors didn’t help against his now labored breathing. Trou’Bleskamuz’s blade had cooked his flesh, his bones, and part of his left lung in one fell swoop.
‘By my maker, do you need my help?’ Solus asked while assessing the gravity of his injuries.
‘Thanks, but no. Your energy is limited, so it’s better to save it for opponents in their reverted state. According to Ratpack, Yozmogh is a Balor too and he has access to his race’s ancient powers. Trou’Bleskamuz is like a training ground for me.
‘If I can’t defeat him on my own, then it’s better to call for reinforcements. Don’t step in unless it’s absolutely necessary.’ Lith’s reply made Solus curse her weakness and wish for a way to improve her usefulness in battle.
The lack of screams disappointed the Balor, but his mood worsened when he saw the Ranger Blink away as a healing aura enveloped his body. Trou’Bleskamuz envied Lith for it and hoped that Yozmogh would keep his word.
The only reason Trou’Bleskamuz was still there was the promise of having his full might restored.
‘Even if the abuse of my black eye and ramming against the door has weakened me somewhat, how did the human manage to avoid my strike like that?’
The answer to the Balor’s question was revealed when he attempted to give chase and finish Lith off before the light magic spell could take effect. Trou’Bleskamuz stumbled instead of sprinting as blinding pain spread through his body.
Lith’s previous failed attack hadn’t been a complete failure after all. Trou’Bleskamuz’s roll had saved his head but left his back and his giant wings exposed. Just like the Balor, Lith had settled for a nonvital yet significant target.
Part of his right wing was gone, putting him off balance and allowing Lith to survive.
Even though the Balor could regenerate his wing, it would take him days, whereas the fight was likely to last less than one more minute. Lith’s Checkmate Spears surrounded Trou’Bleskamuz, striking at him from every side.
The Balor was done blindly charging ahead and recognized immediately the trap lying ahead of him. With his wounded wing his mobility had been crippled, he wasn’t able to move fast enough to dodge them anymore.
He could only use his flaming eye to destroy them at the risk of running out of fire mana, or conjure a defense made of ice that would act as a shield but also as a cage. It would further restrict his movements and leave him exposed to lightning spells.
Trou’Bleskamuz snarled and opened his red eye, sprinting forward on all four. His envy toward Lith turned into unbridled rage, boosting the flames’ temperature and destructive power.
A pillar of blue fire cleared his path toward the Ranger as the Balor dodged the remaining ice spears. Lith saw trickles of blood streaming down the flaming eye and unleashed the tier five spell Dark Ages.
Black ice made from both water and darkness magic covered the ground as well as the walls, leaving only the silver doors exposed. It sapped Trou’Bleskamuz’s strength every time he touched it and forced him to slow down to not impale himself on the lances that randomly popped out of the ice from every direction.
The growing crystals were quickly forming a wall in front of the Balor, who had to slow down even further. The darkness infused in the ice not only made it more resistant to the flames by weakening them, but it was also released in the air as a noxious gas once the ice melted.
When Trou’Bleskamuz finally reached Lith, his flames had died out and so had his red eye. Lith then conjured several streams of lightning bolts, shooting them at random in front of him.
The Balor didn’t even try to shield himself, just dodging whatever he could to cross the last few meters that separated them. Only then did he realize that Lith wasn’t aiming because he had no need to.
The entire floor was covered in water and so was Trou’Bleskamuz. It was a perfect conductor which routed every bolt of lightning to its target, allowing Lith to focus on the power of his spell and to completely neglect controlling it.
The Balor gritted his teeth and used sheer willpower to resist the spasms that were ravaging his body.
‘Prideless mutt! Fighting dirty is a game two can play.’ Trou’Bleskamuz activated his last eye, using the water Lith had conjured against him. The area around them was instantly filled with sharp icicles, which drained the water from the floor.
They were both lightning rods which saved the Balor from the thunderstorm and obstacles that limited the Ranger’s movements, allowing the creature to engage him hand to hand. Lith squinted his eyes from the surprise.
He didn’t expect such a degree of finesse in water manipulation from his opponent. The situation wasn’t good. The back of the corridor was still sealed by his Dark Ages spell, and Blink’s range didn’t reach past the ice wall.
The two of them were trapped inside a small cage filled with spikes that would harm only him. The Balor’s mana couldn’t hurt his master. Lith backstepped while quick casting Plague Arrows and wind blades until he could feel the point of an icicle painfully stinging his back.
