2124 Foolish Genius (Part 2)

The Horseman's armor was made of pure Davross and enchanted by Baba Yaga, its power unaffected by Dusk's weakened state. The same applied to Firebrand that he used to intercept the physical enchanted projectiles that rained upon him from every direction while the defensive spells of his armor took care of the magical traps.

'This is a good learning opportunity for you. Do your best and don't worry. The Scorpion armor can take quite a beating.' He said while leaving Kelia in control.

The young girl inwardly yelped in surprise, finding both the great ax and the adult male body hard to control. An external observer might have noticed the movements of the Horseman suddenly becoming clumsy and amateurish, if it wasn't for the Abominations.

Now that Kigan had also shapeshifted into a humanoid form, it was hard to avert the gaze from him and Xenagrosh. The Phoenix-Balor used his yellow, black, and red eyes to absorb the elemental energy stored inside the traps, neutralizing them the moment they were triggered.

Each one of the Evil Eyes would then release the collected power in the form of an elemental pillar so focused that it cut through the enchanted stone of the underground compound.

Magical formations needed a precise configuration of runes to work and Kigan erased dozens of them at a time. By the time the beams triggered a trap, they held less destructive power than a firework.

The Shadow Dragon, instead, released one jet stream of Origin Flames after another, burning through spells and arrays alike.

Whatever device escaped the onslaught of their combined attack would be immediately shot down by Kelia's Spirit Spells, reinforcing the impression that the Horseman was still at his full power.

As they reached the first intersection, Dusk signaled the hybrids to stop. Now that the corridors were lit, he could see that there was something off with the so-called Pleasure Palace.

There were no hand-woven carpets, no expensive furniture, none of those tacky artworks depicting Orpal and his perverted fantasies that Dusk had read about in the Council's reports.

Both the passages at their left and right were barren. Aside from the arrays in the air and the enchantments on the closed doors, there was nothing that Life Vision could pick up.

'This makes no sense.' He said while double checking the surroundings. 'This place was supposed to be the playground of my sister's host but the more we move forward, the more it looks like a plain fortress.'

'Are you suggesting us to back down?' Kigan asked.

'No, only that we tread with caution.' The young girl replied while she broke the great axe into the two short swords that she was more familiar with.

'Should we split?' Xenagrosh looked both ways but they offered no clue about where they led.

'To what end? We would cover more ground, but with dimensional magic sealed we would have no way to regroup quickly.' The Horseman shook her head. 'Besides, without us, you'd have no way to know who to spare and who to kill.'

Xenagrosh could feel from the corridor on the left the smell of human food so they decided to take that direction. It indicated the presence of living beings who maybe could provide them with valuable information.

The moment they moved past a few of the closed doors, they suddenly opened, revealing the presence of a small army of undead that quickly swarmed both ends of the corridor.

'No matter their numbers. Ants are still ants.' Kigan said while covering Dusk's back while Xenagrosh covered the front.

'I wouldn't be so sure!' Kelia could see with Life Vision several arrays that had been inactive until a second back come to life with energy.

A powerful gravity formation turned the hybrids' great mass against them, making their knees crack under their own same weight and their spells miss their targets by a wide margin as they fell face first on the ground.

Kelia managed to keep standing only thanks to the Scorpion armor.

Not only was the Davross unfazed by the increased gravity, but also the various pieces of the armor had been so masterfully interlocked that it could stand on its own in every position without weighing on its wearer.

'Let's work together to undo the array quickly.' Kelia said. 'We have no chance against so many undead without our allies.'

'And maybe even with them. Shut your ears!' Dusk managed to warn her in the nick of time.

Those who had blocked their advance were Banshees who screamed in unison to produce a powerful shockwave while those who kept the intruders from retreating were Wendigos who activated their own bloodline ability, Chilling Wail.

The Banshees' voices bounced against the walls and were further amplified by the acoustics of the corridors. What Dusk had mistaken for echo was actually a feature of a section of the fortress, designed to trap and focus sound in a specific location.

The one they had just stepped over and where the gravity array was centered on.

The Wendigos, instead, were a countermeasure against Origin Flames users like Lith and Tista. Their Chilling Wail drained the humidity from the room and made the temperature drop by the second, quickly reaching -100° C.

The Banshees produced shockwaves that ravaged the bodies of the invaders while the Wendigos sapped their strength, all the while the pressure from the gravity arrays kept them from moving a muscle.

Xenagrosh and Kigan tried to take a deep breath multiple times but the frozen air turned the moisture in their throats into ice, making it impossible to draw more than small gasps at a time.

'Dammit! That Meln bastard didn't half-ass things like usual. This place has a set of defensive measures on par with an ancient magical household or the lair of an Awakened and we walked into it like morons!'

The Shadow Dragon tried to use her bloodline ability to reduce the density of her body and escape the increased gravity, but it only made things worse.

As she turned her body and equipment into an ethereal form, the cold had an easier time seeping past her armor while the shockwaves blasted away the wisps of smoke, ripping her apart.

The Dark Phoenix fared no better. Kigan used his bloodline abilities to merge into his own shadow and escape from the encirclement, but he failed to find a shade big enough to contain his sprawled form.

'I can't believe that your mother is such a good Forgemaster.' Kelia said in amazement as the Davross Hushed her ears and sealed every opening in the Scorpion armor, keeping it's inside insulated.

'She's also your grandmother now.' Dusk replied. 'Use her gifts.'

Kelia activated one of Firebrand's abilities, Solar Flare, releasing a burst of red flames from each of her twin blades. With her allies groveling on the floor, she had a clear line of sight of both the enemy groups who found themselves engulfed in living fire.

Not only did the enchantment have uncanny destructive power, but it also released such heat that Solar Flare made it impossible for its victims to breathe. Or better, the undead could still inhale air to keep their respective bloodline abilities active but doing so destroyed their lungs.