2105 True Monster (Part 1)

The air and earth elements blocked Xoola, respectively by inducing an electric seizure and by trapping her limbs in a prison of rock. Fire and water alternated in pulses, causing a thermal shock that damaged the Fenrir's equipment and lungs.

The air was either scorching hot or frozen, making it impossible for her to use her breathing technique to recover.

Darkness and light constantly damaged and healed her internal organs in a cycle that consumed Xoola's vitality, depriving her body of the nutrients that Invigoration would need to restore her full strength.

The pain combined with the sudden lack of oxygen made the Fenrir lose her focus. 

Without her willpower to stop the Disarray spells, the magical formations Xoola had conjured exploded right upon her, turning them from a means of protection into a death trap.

Phloria would have been caught in the conflagration if not for the Spirit Warp that she had kept at the ready. She had learned the hard way by practicing with Faluel that when facing colossal creatures the range of a Blink would often not be enough to escape their reach.

"Curse you, human!" Xoola emerged from the dust cloud wounded and with several patches of her fur ablaze, but she was far from dead.

After losing her focus and with it the spells that she kept at the ready, the Fenrir had activated her bloodline ability, Mana Body, to resist the detonation that she knew was about to happen.

She had nothing left but her equipment and sheer physical strength, but she was sure that it would've been enough to get rid of that pest.

"Your life is an insignificant prize compared to the loss of Zehnma, but it'll have to do." The colossal wolf chased Phloria who kept Blinking back to keep her distance, but no matter what kind of spell Reaver dished out, they all washed over the Fenrir with no effect.

Despite Phloria's best efforts, Xoola managed to close in and opened her maw to swallow the human woman whole. Phloria unleashed every spell she still had stored in her blade down the Fenrir's throat but Mana Body made the inside of her body as impervious as the outside.

Then, the jaws closed shut abruptly in pain.

A violet blast of Origin Flames had enveloped Xoola's side, burning through her flesh, armor, and even the world energy mixed with the life force that comprised her bloodline ability.

Lith followed up by grabbing Double Edge by the blade and using it as a blunt weapon, hammering at the Fenrir's sturdy armor with the pommel and sending her crashing down on the ground.

Then, he took a deep breath and released a burst of Void Flames from his mouth and another of Blight Flames from his feathered wings.

'Are you alright?' He asked via a mind link to not waste time talking.

'Aside from my wounded pride, peachy. Gods, you Divine Beasts are such a cheat.' Phloria replied. 'Size, power, and bloodline abilities. How can a mere human compare to that?'

'Get yourself a white core.' Lith inwardly shrugged. 'Even better, why don't you become the first human Guardian while you are at it?'

'Smartass, as if it was that easy.'

Xoola's howls of agony resounded throughout Zehnma as the black flames ate at her from the outside and the silvery flames from the inside. Yet to the soldiers stationed on the walls and the Forgotten who were still trapped right outside the Warp Gate, it sounded like a cry of war instead of surrender.

'I still have one ace in the hole, but I can't use it as long-' It was then that Tista disabled the fourth node of the core array.

The defense system surrounding the city hall crumbled, triggering a domino effect that stripped the power grid that fed the arrays enveloping Zehnma of the energy they needed to work.

Without them, the Royal army outnumbered and outmatched Thrud's human forces stationed in the city and nothing stopped them anymore from opening Warp Steps beyond the external walls and storming the fortress.

Xoola's despair grew, but she could still count on the reinforcements from the Golden Griffon and those from the city hall.

Or so she thought until Trouble and Raptor came out of the building at the head of hundreds of Demons who struck at the defense forces from the back, making their formation crumble.

"No! I won't let this city fall. Not as long as I draw breath!" Xoola roared and activated her bloodline ability, Doom Tide.

It sucked the world energy from the Fenrir's surroundings, its effects reaching even outside the city of Zehnma where the Royal army and mages were assembled. The city arrays disappeared, the equipment of the soldiers on both sides turned into regular metal, and elemental spells failed their casters.

Without world energy, a fake mage was no different from an overpaid scholar. Awakened could still use Spirit Magic, but their own core and body were all they had now.

Breathing techniques had become useless and even most bloodline abilities faded into nothing.

"The battle is over!" Xoola laughed crazily in triumph. "You can't beat me. If I lose my focus, the world energy I'm accumulating will be released in an explosion powerful enough to raze Zehnma to the ground.

"If the True Queen can't have this city, then no one will." Her voice echoed throughout Zehnma, instilling dread in soldiers, Awakened, and citizens alike.

'Shit, this is bad.' Phloria said. 'Doom Tide will kill Thrud's Forgotten as well, but they would just need some time to reform in the Golden Griffon whereas my soldiers would die for good.'

'I think she's bluffing.' Lith replied. 'Thrud can't afford to lose so much food nor can she afford to ruin her public image. One of her generals blowing up an entire city and its people would cause mass hysteria throughout her territories.

'People wouldn't see her as a fair ruler and a savior anymore, but as a cruel monster.'

'I think that too, but that Fenrir doesn't need to go that far to win, she just needs to stall for time.' She looked at the fight below with worry.

Now only Awakened and soldiers equipped with alchemical tools mattered whereas mages had become lambs to the slaughter.

Unlike Forgemastered equipment that required a constant flow of world energy to fuel its abilities, alchemical tools had the power of the elements already stored inside of them along with the spells.

Wands, potions, and Fire Seeds still worked whereas the rest of Zehnma had gone back to a time before magic, making the siege clumsy and tuning the walls into mere tall piles of stones.

'What do you mean?' Lith asked in confusion. 'My Demons are still here and so are your troops. All we need to do to win is find a way to get that Fenrir out of the city before kicking the crap out of her.'

'True, but the same stands for Thrud's Forgotten and the Warp Gate. It's fueled by crystals that will keep working for a while even without world energy. Also, it carries from the other side a constant flow of world energy that will allow Thrud's troops nearby the Gate to regain their strength.'