Ragged clothes appeared on Zolgrish’s skeleton as well as flesh and muscles, restoring part of his original appearance. Dann’Kah started to panic, his willpower was consumed on too many fronts.
He had to keep at bay the voices in his head, prevent the amplifier from shutting down or lose any chance to control it, and fight the undead energies within him which were trying to return to their rightful vessel.
‘How the heck does Yozmogh control them so effortlessly? I’m a natural Awakened, whereas lichs use fake magic, and Balors are limited to tier three magic. Why am I losing against a pile of bones?’ He thought.
The answer was actually simple. In his arrogance, Dann’Kah had spread his resources too thin. As for Zolgrish, he had prepared plenty of spells on his way to the lab. Until he lost his focus or run out of spells, he was as powerful as an Awakened.
To add insult to injury, he only needed to beckon to call back his energies and the closer he got to Dann’Kah, the harder it was for the orc to keep them in check.
Zolgrish was solely focused on the shaman, so Yozmogh could afford to let the undead energies escape from his body just to capture them again with his black wing.
Dann’Kah called upon his ancestors to conjure the ancient elven tier five spell, Lighthouse. It trapped the lich inside a hard light construct shaped like a cube that contained a small tornado.
Zolgrish wasn’t afraid of being ripped to shreds by the violent air currents, so much as he was surprised by the offensive light spell. He had never seen one before.
“Not bad, but let’s see if this thing is as strong as it looks.” The lich snapped his fingers to release the tier five spell Raging Sun. It filled the cube with a blast of purple flames that dispersed the air currents forming the tornado, adding the orc’s spell power to its own.
The resulting explosion made the sides of the cube crack as the lich took control of the shockwaves it generated with air magic and sent them back and forth against the weak points the two colliding spells had created.
It was an impossible strategy for any creature, living or not. Zolgrish could ignore the damage he received only because he had no vitals.
“You fool!” He laughed as his bones kept cracking and healing.
“You should have let the device shut down. It would have taken me hours instead of seconds to regain my strength. The closer I get to it, the stronger I become. It’s like being next to my phylactery to me.”
“Thanks for the information, old man.” Dann’Kah replied. He sent the cube rolling to the opposite side of the room, following it closely to not lose control of his spell. If darkness magic’s weakness was its speed, for light magic it was its range.
“But I need the amplifier to take everything from you, just like you took everything away from me. My dignity, my honor, even my life. I’ll use your life’s work to escape from this cage and torture you until the end of time.”
“What a coincidence! It’s the end of time o’clock for you. Right, Ratpack?” At those words, Dann’Kah realized to have brought the lich in the spot he had seen the small maggot disappear.
Ratpack emerged from the shadows, stabbing Dann’Kah with his Coward’s Knife multiple times before the shaman could even turn around. The enchanted blade was a long dagger for a man but it was a short sword to Ratpack.
Zolgrish had infused it with light and darkness magic. The darkness spell acted as a venom against living beings and as an acid against everything else. The light element closed the wounds the moment they were opened.
The forced healing would sap its victim’s stamina and accelerate the spreading of the venom through their body by enhancing their metabolism. Dann’Kah managed to stop the darkness spell with one of his own, but he was helpless against the light magic which broke both his focus and his spell.
As soon as the cube shattered, Zolgrish dashed forward and grabbed the shaman’s face with his hands as he summoned back the undead energies that had been stolen from him.
“Thanks, you idiot! I would have never escaped from that thing on my own!” Zolgrish said.
“You’re welcome, master!” Ratpack said while turning into a puff of smoke to avoid the lightning bolts the orc had unleashed trying to get rid of the small pest.
“Not you! I mean, yes you helped me, but it was sarcasm.” Zolgrish sighed at the ruined moment. He had been on his last leg, focusing all of his remaining mana on the healing process to pretend that he was stronger than he appeared to be.
Recovering from small wounds like those the tools inflicted was one thing, withstanding tier five spells was another. The lich had deceived his captor hoping that Ratpack would find the courage to step in the fight.
The moment the lich and the shaman came into contact, they started a tug of war for the control over the undead energies trapped inside the orc’s body.
One second the lich looked almost human, with pink skin covering his face and pretty clothes over his body, whereas the orc was once again a bald, tall brute. The next moment, Zolgrish was reduced to two arms connected to his skull only by the shoulders, and Dann’Kah looked more magnificent than ever.
The world energy would burst out of his body, forming a crown of pure mana above his head and making his skin shine as he had turned into a god.
“Oh crap.” Zolgrish said. He hadn’t realized that the channel he had opened between the shaman and him could go both ways.
Even though the undead energy well remembered his touch, now that they were so close Dann’Kah could use his crystal ring to steal the little life essence that the lich had left.
“Ratpack! Zalma! I need help!” He said.
Unluckily, Ratpack had run out of courage, and Lith had his plate full.
“Dammit! Do you want to dance? Fine, but I’ll lead.” The moment Zolgrish regained the upper hand, he Warped them away. Yozmogh was still busy dealing with Lith, but after the lich’s call for help, he had noticed how dangerous his situation was.
If Zolgrish managed to strip the undead energies from Dann’Kah, he would be the next. If it was the orc shaman to emerge victorious, they would no longer be equal and the Balor’s fate would be sealed anyway.
He ignored Lith’s Setting Sun and darted forward to stop Dann’Kah, but the lich beat him to the punch, moving his fight to an unknown location. A searing pain spread from the Balor’s light wing as Lith pierced it with his spell.
‘If I’m right, as long as he has all six wings, he should be able to use some kind of Invigoration by absorbing the six elements that make up the world energy. To gain an edge, I must cripple his recovery abilities.
‘Without his light wing, all the damage I inflict to him will be permanent and he will be unable to recover is mana too. Two birds with one stone!’ Lith thought.
Yozmogh couldn’t agree more. His conceited expression was replaced by worry as the thorn made of black flames turned most of the white feathers into ashes. He turned around to protect his exposed back, but Lith managed to follow his movements thanks to air fusion.
The Balor yelled in outrage realizing his mistake. His power was unmatched, but he couldn’t cast spells against someone outside his line of sight.
