1969 The Power of the Gods (Part 1)

'My Demons can act the same way as my auxiliary cores, weaving spells in my stead and providing me with all the magic I need the moment I need it. The problem is that our normal chains aren't this strong. I must find a way to trigger this phenomenon on my own.' Lith thought.

Before the Verendi Council representatives could understand what was happening, six new black pillars appeared and all of the Master's chosen but Tezka joined the fray.

Nelia the Griffon and Eycos the Garuda were already in their Divine Beast form, using the Life Maelstrom equivalent of Primordial Flames, Chain Maelstrom.

They each emptied their mana organ in one go, using half of the Life Maelstrom it stored to empower themselves and throwing the remaining half at the other in the form of a huge bolt of silver lightning.

The incoming mass of Life Maelstrom caused no harm to the two Eldritches. On the contrary, the silver lightning was absorbed and amplified by the Life Maelstrom already coursing through their bodies.

Nelia and Eycos channeled the energy they had exchanged into their mana organs, filling them again.

The Life Maelstrom enhanced not only their abilities, but also the amount of world energy they could store inside their bodies. When a split second later they shoot another bolt of lightning at each other, it was bigger and stronger than the original. 

The sparks between the two Divine Beasts grew in intensity with each cycle. The Life Maelstrom they exchanged soon filled even their boosted mana organs to the brim until they couldn't contain it anymore.

At that point, the Garuda and the Griffon flooded the battlefield with Chain Maelstrom, filling their allies with new energy and frying their enemies by overloading their cores.

Hushar the Leviathan and Cyare the Fenrir used their Doom Tide ability to conjure the world energy from their surroundings, enriching the area more than a mana geyser.

At the same time, they used Elemental Flow to conjure a series of arrays that neutralized the spells restricting their allies and healed their wounds.

'Nandi, do your thing on Solus as well!' Bytra said and the Minotaur complied.

He had no idea what good could world energy do to a regular human, but in his frenzied state, there was no space for doubts, only for battle. The violet gems on the forehead and the arms of the Minotaur-Orc hybrid turned white as he harnessed the energy that Hushar and Cyare had hoarded.

The world energy flooded Bytra, Zoreth, and Theseus with the same effects of Invigoration. Their wounds closed immediately and their black cores quickly returned to their peak condition.

One of Nandi's tendrils reached Solus as well, and its effects were amazing.

Not only did she completely recover her physical and magical strength, but they also unlocked all of the tower's abilities. If usually absorbing world energy in her tower form was akin to taking bites of a meal and then digesting it, what she received from Nandi was an IV.

She didn't have to absorb and process the world energy, it willingly offered itself to her and became a part of her body in the space of seconds. She accessed the Heart of the tower, conjuring the Immortal Body array to heal Dolgus the White Griffon in an instant.

Solus stored her Sage Staff in the Armory, sharing its effects with Lith and his Demons. Now capable of absorbing huge amounts of world energy via their Abomination Touch, the wounded Demons healed and the vanquished ones returned.

As for Lith, he felt his strength soar like never before. Chain Maelstrom was imbuing him with a constant flow of Life Maelstrom that he could freely share with War and the Demons.

At the same time, as the tower's master, he also benefitted from the power that Solus received from Nandi. The Tiamat's body started to crackle with black and silver lightning as his eyes spread their influence to his surroundings.

The resonance effect with the Demons increased with each new source of power he received, making them stronger as well. The shadows stopped flickering, their energy bodies taking physical form.

All of the Demons reached six eyes and then they burst out in Cursed Flames. There were now six kinds of Demons of the Abyss surrounding Tiamat, unleashing their fury against anyone who dared approach them.

Lith rejoiced to see their astonishing power and was utterly confused because he had no idea of what had happened and how to trigger the phenomenon again.

A Silverwing Annihilation snapped him out of his reverie, sending him flying.

Yet the damage was nothing compared to before. The Doom Tide had thinned the world energy for the Council so aside from Spirit Magic the other six elements were barely at one-tenth of their original strength.

Lith laughed in a frenzy and the tables turned once again.

Zoreth had broken free of the Griffon Fetters and had unleashed a river of Origin Flames. Kigan the Phoenix had followed suit, adding his own, and together they had conjured a burst of Primordial Flames that exploded amid the enemy lines.

The Awakened tried to conjure Silverwing's Bastion, but it was weakened as well by the lack of elemental energy whereas Life Maelstrom empowered the Primordial Flames, turning them into a silvery color.

Doom Tide and Nandi weakened the Council as much as they empowered the Abominations, bringing their bloodline abilities to the next level. The blast of Primordial Flames pierced through the Silverwing's Bastion and killed Ozak's apprentices.

The Council representative survived solely because once he realized how dire the situation was, he focused the protection on himself.

Xergov the Dullahan wasn't so lucky. Hushar and Cyare used the Life Maelstrom empowering them to amplify their ability to control the world energy. Their willpower reached the hiding place of the undead that was located above a mana geyser.

The two Eldritches conjured a Doom Tide each, making them detonate past the dimensional opening.

What was supposed to be the undead's safe haven turned into a death trap. The sudden lack of world energy made the dimensional corridor shut down and neutralized all kinds of defensive arrays.

When the combined Doom Tides exploded, they bounced on the walls, producing shockwaves that ripped the Dullahan and his Blood Witches to shreds. The conflagration fed upon the mana geyser, spreading throughout the underground complex.

With no world energy to fuel the lair's defensive spells, the Doom Tides met no resistance, causing a cave-in that destroyed a century-old legacy and opened a kilometers-deep fissure in the ground. 

Nelia the Griffon and Eycos the Garuda charged at Senara, their bodies turning into a living mass of silver energy. Nelia's Lightning Body and Eycos' Nocturne Blast burned and withered plant representative and the rest of the Fae that comprised her squad.

The Griffon struck first, using her energy form to pierce through the Bastion and weaken their equipment. Then came the Garuda, spreading a black rain that seeped inside their bodies and tainted the land.

Just like Theseus, plants needed to draw nourishment from the ground to make use of their recovery abilities, but suddenly there was none. Senara died by her own hand, burning the last spark of life she had in the attempt to escape with a Spirit Blink.