2293 Demon in a Bottle (Part 1)

The When All Are One array worked even better than a mind link. It allowed its participants to gain full access to each other's body as long as they received permission and full trust.

Fyrwal was letting Tessa use her body as her own, taking control of the footwork and timing the blows to perfection. At the same time, Tessa was giving Fyrwal full access to her six extra heads.

A Titania lacked in mass compared to a Divine Beast while a Hydra lacked in strength. Together, they covered each other's weaknesses. It was like Thrud was fighting against two Hydras and two Titanias at the same time.

The Royal Fortress armor wasn't as heavy as the Arthan armor, but it was still made of Davross and the modern magic partly bridged the gap. On top of that, the Mad Queen couldn't use any spell in fear that Domination would turn it against her. 

Yet her situation quickly got even worse.

Tessa didn't use her extra heads, but her body was still under her control and so was Fyrwal's. She used them both to body cast several arrays that struck at Thrud's soldiers, Ne'sra citizens, and even Phloria.

Thrud had sent her away to use her as bait in the hope that Faluel would do something stupid or use Phlroia as a hostage if needed.

If not for Orsat the Red Griffon swooping down to the rescue, Phloria would have been caught in the crossfire.

"Are you insane?" Thrud couldn't make heads or tails of that senseless slaughter.

"No. What about you?" Tessa sent her vines to feed on the corpses to make up for the nutrients lost.

Even though Tessa and Fyrwal were winning, Thrud kept injuring them and there was nothing like meat to heal from a grievous wound.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" The Titania laughed. "You are attacking the city so no matter who wins, you'll get blamed for this destruction. I bet that you won't have an easy time controlling Ne'sra after killing so many civilians."

"What about Phloria?" Thrud could already foresee Tessa's heartless ploy bearing poisonous fruits that would screw her plans.

"What *about* her?" Tessa shrugged. "I've been called to kill you. I don't do rescues. Besides, Phloria is no Juria or Oghrom, just one of their many descendants. Her parents are still alive and can make another daughter. No biggie."

Thrud clenched her teeth as her whole strategy fell apart.

If Phloria died, no more Dragon Knight for days. No way to torture Lith or to lure him in the open until she was out of the rebirth chamber. Even worse, her invasion plans would be brought to a halt.

'Fucking Fae! They are all psychopaths. Using a hostage against them is like using a pillow to hit a bull.' The Mad Queen released all the Life Maelstrom she had left.

She used her bloodline abilities at the same time to push Tessa and Fyrwal away while activating the full power of Arthan's Sword.

"Not so fast!" Even from a distance, Fyrwal used her Domination to wrestle the silver lightning away from Thrud and even mess with the sword.

"If you like toys so much, do you want to see mine?" A Yggdrasill staff with a round head and seven elemental crystals etched on it appeared in Tessa's hand, generating an unknown array.

In the meantime, Quylla was fighting one on one against a Phoenix, and she was winning. She used Dimensional Ruler to Warp behind the enemy whenever Rayne focused on the attack.

Her fists and kicks made the Divine Beast stagger and every lash of Bloodbind had enough strength to pluck out feathers and cut through the flesh. The five of the six serpentine heads on Quylla's shoulders cast spells while the last used Invigoration.

Seven brains also meant boosting her intellect seven times, her mind worked so fast that even her bright violet-cored body struggled to follow.

As for Friya, she was going all-out against Xoola. The Fenrir had activated Mana Body right off the bat and that was the only reason she was still alive.

Friya used hard-light constructs to expand the size and range of her rapier at will, combining Dimensional Ruler with Light Mastery to turn the golden sparks of dimensional energy into knives the size of a car.

Whenever the constructs struck, they Blinked away and carried Xoola's flesh and fur with them. Not even Mana Body could resist a dimensional blade that cut through space.

The Fenrir had tried moving to close-quarter combat, but it was even worse. Friya didn't bother to defend herself, focusing only on the attack. Hard-light constructs the size of a truck covered her fists and feet, giving her even more mass.

Friya's Fae body healed instantly from any wound and her Hydra head used Invigoration the moment her stamina started to dwindle.

The one time that Xoola had severed Friya's arm, a vine had reconnected her shoulder with the limb and Friya had used it as a whip, further increasing her range until the wound had closed.

'Is this the power of a Divine Beast?' Quylla and Friya were so drunk on When All Are One that they could barely remember about their sister.

Faluel was busy dealing with Leari and Iata at the same time, but she still had time to worry about her apprentices.

"Take cover! For the love of the gods, duck!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

They were winning yet there was panic in her voice. So much that Iata and Leari jumped back to look in the direction at which one of the Hydra's heads was staring.

"Great Mother protect us." The last time Iata had wet herself was back when she was a few days old cubs, yet she felt no shame in doing it as an adult.

"You are a monster!" Thrud stared in horror at the sky as well.

Tessa's array had spread all over Ne'sra, its humongous size was possible only thanks to its basic effect. The Eternal Kingdom array simply extended Domination's area of effect.

It had allowed the Titania to hijack every single spell cast inside the capital of Deirus, no matter if it belonged to the Kingdom's army or Thrud's. An entire warzone's worth of spells were all converging toward Tessa, blotting out the sky in a storm of mana.

"I did warn you child." Fyrwal prayed to Mogar that none of those spells had been meant to save lives, yet she knew better. "Once you unleash a Demon, there's no way to send her back into the bottle until the wish has been granted."

"Run! Run for your lives!" Thrud yelled inside her communication amulet to save as much of her forces as she could.

Phloria had kept herself far away from the battle zone with Orsat the Red Griffon as her bodyguard. They used Life Maelstrom to fly away as fast as they could, opening a Warp Steps only once Life Vision assured them to be outside of Dimensional Ruler's area of effect.

"Phloria!" Friya yelled and Warped to the chase, but Faluel Dominated her spell to bring her back.

'Stay here, you idiot!' The Hydra chided her apprentice via a mind link.