2194 Hold the Line (Part 2)

Solus' feet touched the floor and the hammer returned to her hand before Hystar could notice that the spell had become inactive and his guard was still lowered.

"Well played, but inside an academy, the Headmaster is a god!" Hystar let go of the spear and it bolted on its own against Solus. She tried to dodge but discovered to be ankle deep in the stone floor.

The spear struck at her chest at the same time when Hystar shield bashed her and a pillar of pure Spirit Magic erupted from the exposed power core, hitting her in the back.

Solus coughed out a mouthful of blood, painting the gemstones of the Mouth red and losing her focus. The spells she had kept at the ready faded, leaving her only with the enchantments of her equipment and of her tower half available.

Hystar gave her no quarter and kept attacking her from every side by conjuring several new helpers. Instead of frail golems, this time he had the walls, floors, and even the ceiling take part in the fight.

If anyone were to look at the Golden Griffon from the outside, they would have seen the castle keep suddenly shrinking. The missing mass had been displaced in the Headmaster's office in the form of countless limbs and weapons.

Hystar meant to get rid of all the intruders at the same time by exploiting his control over the academy.

It allowed him to conjure out of his body anything he could think of. Not only did his constructs have as much mass as he could spare while keeping the academy operational, but they also channeled the energy from the power core.

'To think that I wouldn't be able to do this without that witch of Linnea.' The Headmaster thought.

'The Queen managed to replace the outdated runes of the academy with modern ones while pregnant, but it was Linnea who gave me the same enchantments of a modern academy. I must remember to thank her before I kill her for good.'

Solus was left with no choice and gritted her teeth in frustration. Vladion was barely holding out and Lith had just gained the upper hand. She couldn't afford to stall for time anymore without putting their lives and the mission in danger.

She activated one of the arrays stored in the Heart of the tower, using the portion of the mana geyser she had taken control of to fuel it. A magic circle formed around her and seven stars of different colors took the form of the Big Dipper.

The spear cracked, the beam was stopped and Hystar managed to step back before his body was crushed only thanks to his shield. His arms had been turned into dust but they were already reforming.

Too bad that once Solus activated Silverwing's Annihilation all of his careful planning went into the gutter anyway. The Spirit Array would usually require seven violet cored Awakened to exert its full prowess and Solus had just a bright blue core.

Yet even a fraction of the power of a mana core as big as the one under the Golden Griffon was enough to fuel the Annihilation.

Each star emitted a beam of elemental energy that lit the room as if a sun had appeared. Hystar's form turned into sand and so did all the constructs he had conjured.

'I would love to unleash the Annihilation all around me since Lith and I have the same signature and the array can't hurt him.' She thought. 'Yet Kalla and Vladion would die, and if I inflict critical damage to the academy's power core, not even us would survive the blast.'

Solus had to be careful with the energy mass she had accumulated.

Destroying the walls would have also let sunlight in, putting Vladion's life at stake. She used the Sage Staff to release the energy of the Spirit Array one bit at a time, guiding its flow like a conductor with a melody.

She split it into three parts to take care of Hystar, the constructs, and the power core at the same time. Every time that the Headmaster died from the Annihilation and his body reformed, the cloaking system of the power core became weaker.

With the power core itself under attack, part of the energy of the academy was redirected to form a barrier, slowing down the resurrection of the Forgotten killed by Vladion.

Last, but not least, by taking care of the constructs Solus had allowed her companions to keep focusing solely on their respective enemies.

Lith kept holding War with three arms and exploiting his superior might to pin Jormun's Dragonclaw against the ground as his three left arms rained a barrage of spells-imbued fists on him.

The fight had lost any trace of finesse, degenerating into a slugfest. Every punch left a dent in the Adamant of the Kingslayer armor and produced a shockwave so strong that it forced everyone to Hush their ears to not have their eardrums burst.

Jormun stared once again at Lith in admiration, but respect didn't make him falter and the battle experience accumulated through the centuries allowed him to find a counter.

Two new sets of arms came out of his shoulders and hips as well, mirroring the opponent's as if the fight had been rehearsed dozens of times. His open right palms blocked Lith's right fists while his left hands grabbed the hilt of Dragonclaw, pushing War away.

Emerald Dragons were the embodiment of life and had unparalleled control over life force. The Dragon Eyes had studied the changes in Lith's body to sustain the new sets of arms and a simple Body Sculpting spell had done the rest.

Unlike Lith, Jormun had no experience handling multiple limbs but thanks to his Emerald Flow bloodline ability there was no need for it. Emerald Flow allowed the Dragon to develop the necessary instinct to master every form he took the moment he changed his body.

Also, Jormun activated another ability, Life Merge, to evenly redistribute the damage he had taken until that moment over all of his body. Life Merge could split a big wound into many smaller ones and share the damage an organ had taken with the healthy ones.

This way, not only would any crippling wound stop hindering his movements, but it would also make the healing process faster and lessen the burden on his stamina. Light fusion could now close most of his injuries without the need of healing spells.

Jormun exploited Lith's surprise to push him away enough to free his right leg and kick the Abomination away. The Abomination would have been sent flying if not for gravity fusion bringing him back to the ground and his talons digging their way, making him stop after just a few meters.

Jormun had just gotten back to his feet when his little brother did the unthinkable and plunged War inside his own body. The Emerald Dragon had no idea what was going on nor did he care.

He took a deep breath to both use Invigoration and prepare a new bust of Origin Flames, almost choking on them from the surprise. The angry blade had come out of Lith's body and neither of them seemed to be hurt.