2106 True Monster (Part 2)

'Last, but not least, by taking down the arrays Doom Tide has reset them. The moment the world energy returns, the defensive system will go back to its full power and all of our work will be for nothing!' Phloria racked her brain in search of a solution, but to no avail.

Physically dragging away a creature the size of the Fenrir was impossible. As for magic, any spell that didn't kill Xoola on the spot might make her release the energy stored by her bloodline ability.

Losing the city would be a big problem for the Kingdom. Losing the city, two regiments, one battalion of mages, and the entire Awakened corps would be a disaster.

'I have a plan.' Lith said while handing Phloria his rail gun, Thundercrash. 'Spirit Magic isn't the only thing we can use. We also have Blade Magic.'

'Don't be stupid. Without world energy, the power cores of our equipment are becoming weaker by the second. Sure, we could take down a Fenrir in one blow by combining our spells, but only if we had the time to weave them and our gear at full power.' Phloria replied.

'That's why I need you to get outside Doom Tide's area of effect, let our equipment recharge, and shoot the Fenrir when I give you the signal. You may not be a marksman as good as Friya, but that thing is a target hard to miss.'

Lith took off his Voidwalker armor and had it shrunk to human size before handing it to her alongside Double Edge and War.

'This is crazy!' Phloria replied. 'Depowered or not, Adamant is still Adamant. Do you really intend to fight an opponent that big and armed to the teeth while stark naked?'

'Do you trust me?' Lith asked.

'With my life.' She took off, flying high in the sky until she could feel the world energy again.

Reaver hadn't lost the spells she had imbued it with yet nor the built-up energy necessary to cast Omnislash.

'I can finish the preparations safely and cast my Blade Spell, but how is Lith supposed to do it from down there?' The answer to her question came in the form of Trion who flew by her side.

The moment the six-eyed Demon approached, the Voidwalker armor slipped onto him and War into his hands, weaving Ruin.

"Since when can you cast Blade Tier spells?" Phloria almost lost her focus in shock.

Almost.

"Nice to meet you too, Phloria." Trion replied. "As for your question, since never."

"Then what are you doing here and how is that possible?" She had no time for niceties and pointed at the crimson runes that were coming out from Lith's equipment.

"I am my own person but the power I wield is not mine." He said. "My whole body is made of Lith's Spirit Magic and darkness. Right now, I'm the piece of equipment fueling the spell and War is the mage."

Phloria looked at the angry blade and at the golden chains that it produced. It was Double Edge's ability, Gleipnir, that allowed War to link its mana flow with Trion and the rest of Lith's set, harmonizing the various cores until they merged into one.

War snarled in fury, hating to be separated from its master and the feel of a foreign hand on its hilt. Yet the energy signature matched that of its true master and the orders were clear so the blade focused on its task.

"The sword is casting magic?" Phloria stared in horror at the edge of the artifact as it turned into small jagged fangs that gnashed non-stop to chant the spell faster and at the shining shackles it produced.

If not for the color, they would be nigh-identical to those Lith conjured.

"Yeah. Your father is a monster, but at this point, you should know it already." Trion pointed at Reaver that already stored a power comparable to a violet core and kept becoming more powerful despite Phloria having just a bright blue core.

"Dam right he is." She snapped out of her reverie and pointed Thundercrash down, using Friya's Scope spell as telescopic sight.

Xoola was too far away even for an Awakened enhanced vision. Thanks to the small dimensional corridor opened in front of the muzzle of the railgun, however, Phloria had a clear sight of the area around the Divine Beasts.

At the same time, hundreds of meters below, Lith had touched the ground and was walking in front of the Fenrir. Each one of his steps made the city block tremble and opened a crater in the roads.

Xoola arched her back, snarling as she tried to understand the situation.

'Verhen is no martyr willing to die for the Kingdom. If he's come to face me, he must have a plan.' She thought, but she couldn't figure it out for her life.

The Fenrir still held the power of the Doom Tide inside her body and even though they were depowered, the blades on her fangs and jaws were still razor-sharp and her armor sturdy.

The Tiamat, instead, was both unarmed and unprotected.

"Whatever you are doing, stop. No matter if I win or not, today you lose." She said.

"You are too confident for someone so full of it. And when I say 'it', I mean world energy." Lith spread his arms and a black tide rose from the streets of Zehnma, covering him from head to toe.

"What you call a threat is nothing but an all-you-can-eat buffet to us." The Demons of the Fallen reshaped their bodies to form a living armor of flesh and bones.

Their mana cores formed a network that empowered both the makeshift artifact and its wielder. The Demons who reached Lith's hands formed lumps of energy that quickly grew into short words.

'Oh, shit! Those things are made out of his own mana and now Verhen is taking it back.' Xoola couldn't afford to stall for time anymore and jumped at Lith's throat while conjuring a tier five Spirit Spell.

He sidestepped the attack and executed two quick ripostes that clanged against Xoola's armor, opening shallow scratches. Yet the Abomination Touch of the Demons had not only sucked a small part of the Fenrir's vitality, but also of her Doom Tide.

'Cunning son of a Dragon!' She inwardly cursed. 'The armor, the blades, everything is a trap. He can't possibly drain me quick enough with those mosquito bites so his real goal must be to get close enough and drown me in his Demons.

'If that happens, thousands of hands will suck me dry and neutralize the explosion. I can't afford to let him get close again.'

Xoola activated Life Vision, discovering that not all the Demons had returned to Lith. There were pools of darkness laying in an ambush near her, waiting for her to take a misstep to attack.

To make matters worse, Lith's makeshift equipment and the pools were resonating with magic. It didn't take a genius to understand that they were going to trap her inside an array.

The Fenrir activated a Spirit Flight spell and took the sky to escape the encirclement. At the same time, she unleashed the hexaelemental Spirit Spell, Manastorm, to hit the Tiamat and his Demons at the same time.