Chapter 1733 - Perfect Cores (Part 1)

Protector had no idea that the Hatis' bloodline abilities had a much greater range than the Wargs' nor that they didn't involve solely their bodies but also their minds.

The members of the Hati tribe had started the weave spells the moment they had perceived the death of their companion and were sending them to Selkar along with their physical prowess thanks to the bloodline ability, Hunting Pack.

Without it boosting the Hati's speed and regeneration, the first swing of Boros would have crushed Selkar's head right after cutting his hand.

"If you really are not a monster anymore, how can you betray your brethren and serve a human like a mere dog? Where is your pride as an Emperor Beast?" Protector released a volley of stone darts that dug deep into the Hati's flesh, pushing him away.

"Do you think we have a choice? We are tired of being hunted. Of being hungry and powerless! While those like you abandoned us, the Queen gave us hope and turned us into a new race.

"We are Elder Beasts now and we won't stop until we've got our revenge. If we have to become her pets, so be it!" Selkar said with a snarl.

His fury was great, but Protector's bright blue core made him stronger than an entire tribe of yellow cored Hatis. On top of that, no matter how many spells they sent Selkar, they would consume his mana and burden solely his body.

Selkar couldn't cast them recklessly so he waited for an opening, but the Skoll gave him none and quickly pushed the Hati on his back foot with his superior battle experience.

The moment earth magic gave Protector the space to swing his mace again, Boros struck at Selkar's head. The Hati had yet to recover his footing so he raised his crossed arms to intercept the blow.

The mace mercilessly crushed his hands and wrists before smashing his skull. Once again, the wounds instantly passed unto several of Selkar's pack members, allowing him to survive.

"Well said, brother." The remaining evolved troll, Arko, unleashed six tier three Light Mastery spells from her hands in the form of heat rays. "We have been discarded by our respective races as failures but now we have the opportunity to replace them."

Traughen were even more naturally gifted for light magic than Trolls, but the art of conjuring constructs was lost to them. It would take them years if not decades to learn how to create hard-light again.

Protector easily dodged the spells, yet Arko smiled. The ray of light turned into darkness the moment they reached their real targets, reanimating the corpses of the fallen as undead.

"Arise, my pets!" Traughen were natural with both elements and capable of switching freely between them.

The dead Hati, the other Traughen, and all of the dead Fomor stood up again, surrounding Protector from every side. Selkar's muzzle twisted in a grimace of disgust at the sight of the Necromancy spell.

Even Elder Beasts considered it an abomination that defiled the bodies of their fallen comrades and spoiled the meat of their prey. Yet Selkar preferred a dishonorable victory to an honorable death.

Now that they were eight against one, victory was at hand.

As for Friya and Nalrond, the fight against the undead had taken an unexpected turn. The Harmonizer at their neck fixed the imbalance in their blood cores, making the undead not only immune to sunlight but also allowing them to use all elements like true mages.

It also boosted their natural regenerative abilities to the extent that even striking at their weak points wasn't enough to kill them. A severed head reattached itself just like any other limb and a punctured heart regenerated the moment that the sword or the claw piercing it was pulled out.

'Damaging their bodies is a waste of time. We have to completely destroy them!' Friya said via a mind link.

'Easier said than done.' Nalrond replied with a grunt while pushing away a Ghoul whose skin shone like metal due to some kind of extreme version of earth fusion. 'We can't use powerful spells and if we let them get close, they'll tear us to shreds!'

'Use your equipment and everything will be fine. In a place like this, brains are more important than brawns.' Friya executed a thrust that her opponent dodged easily, yet Dreadnought reached its mark nonetheless.

The tip of the sword plunged into a small dimensional rift and came out from the Grendel's back. The darkness infused blade hit the Harmonizer at her neck, damaging it enough to disrupt the flow of world energy.

The mana core of the massive hairy creature went back to its normal, defective status and the Grendel fell instantly asleep. Two more quick thrusts of Dreadnought destroyed the heart and the head of the helpless undead the moment he reverted into his human form.

'Right. I had forgotten about that.' Nalrond looked at his claws covered by a thick layer of compressed Adamant and at the glistening silver that coated the scales of his Rezar body.

He wasn't used to having magical equipment and up to that point, had fought as if his body was all he had.

He slashed at the White Lady in front of him and the enchanted gloves, Sunder, produced five air blades, one for each of his claws. The undead hurled a river of water to stop the spell or at least to lessen its power.

She could have easily dodged it, but as Friya had said, in such a confined space the spell would have either hit one of her companions or one of the crystals they had yet to mine.

Losing a crystal wasn't a big deal, but being struck by a powerful explosion from the back and shielding their enemies with their own bodies would have been fatal. The air blades cut through the raging river of the White Lady, yet she didn't dodge.

At the last second, her body burst into a wave that smothered what strength the spell had left without her taking any damage. Upon their death, White Ladies would become one with the river where they had drowned themselves along with their children.

They were capable of storing massive amounts of water, yet the more they used for their attacks, the dryer their physical body would become, making it highly flammable.

Thanks to the Harmonizer, the White Lady could now turn herself into liquid and retain her consciousness by spreading it via water fusion. In that new form, she was nigh-invulnerable.

Alas, just like Nalrond wasn't used to his new equipment, she wasn't used to wearing a Harmonizer.

The metal collar stayed behind, taking the full hit. White Ladies had no trouble staying awake during the day, but without the Harmonizer the hunger was back, and with it her natural weakness to fire.

As her body forcibly reformed, she conjured a wave that crashed against the Rezar in the attempt to drown him and suck his life. Nalrond had the Scalewalker armor seal all of its pores, nullifying the attack.

The moment she regained her physical form, he needed but a tier three lightning spell to set her ablaze.