2469 Broken Shield (Part 1)

Stargazer used the powers of the Yggdrasill wood to mix the rune of its enchantments with those conjured by her mind to conjure another Frozen Storm in less than half the time that a regular Awakened would need to weave such a powerful spell.

The Davross blade was meant as an amplifier and as a last mean resort. The true power of the cursed glaive came from the mystical wood and the Evil Eyes of an unfallen Balor.

Stargazer's maker had been a powerful mage who had used the unique abilities of the World Tree to shorten the cast time of any spell and the Evil Eyes to achieve the next best thing to Domination along with an endless supply of power for the wielder of his masterpiece.

Alas, the hybrid had already witnessed a Frozen Storm and even though they couldn't afford to Dominate it again due to the focus needed to keep Windfell under pressure, they still had arrows to their quiver.

The moment the other two cursed objects had joined the fray, only three of the nine eyes of the creature had remained fixated on the scimitar and his host. The others evenly split their attention among the newcomers.

Thanks to the Watchtower, Lith and Solus had no need to make eye contact to follow the enemies' movements except for using the Eyes of Menadion on them.

Solus recognized the familiar pattern of runes and weaved a Frozen Storm of her own even though she had never practiced the spell.

By Dominating the earlier Frozen Storm, Solus had learned its rune sequence and now she was also learning from Stargazer how to tap into the abilities of Yggdrasill wood.

The Sage Staff was hung to their neck and she needed but a thought to conjure its unexpected powers. As Stargazer unleashed the spell, the left golden hand did the same and two identical Frozen Storms met halfway.

"The fuck?" Stargazer blurted out in surprise.

The hybrid was supposed to be focused on Windfell and even if they weren't, Stargazer was certain that they had no water spell at the ready when she had started weaving.

To make matters worse, the standstill lasted less than one second before her Frozen Storm started losing ground.

'This is impossible! My host possesses a bright violet mana core and my power core is even stronger. I've mastered my craft for millennia and I have the power of six Evil Eyes boosting my magical prowess.

'The cursed object of the runt is clearly specialized in physical combat, not magic! Aside from her monstrous strength, that Solus had a weak ass core.' Yet she was deadly wrong.

Lith and Solus had the equivalent of one bright violet core, one bright blue core, and a surging power core which was getting closer to the white by the second.

They indeed lacked Stargazer's expertise, but they more than made up for it thanks to the power of three Evil Eyes, their complementary elemental crystals, and the Hands and Eyes of Menadion.

The Hands drew in more world energy than the cursed glaive could, using it to fuel Solus' Frozen Storm. The Eyes showed Solus the precise sequence of the runes needed for the spell and how to space them to perfection to bring out its full potential.

Even though it was her first time casting Frozen Storm, the Eyes of Menadion made her technique flawless. The conflicting spells sealed Stargazer's advance and forced her to conjure more to match quality with quantity.

'If I get hit, I'll be turned into a block of ice. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be much of a problem but both my host and I already have been destroyed many times.' She thought.

'Any more and I won't stand a chance against the hybrid on my own even if my host was at his peak. If I lose more power and my host is torn to pieces, I'll…' She dismissed the ridiculous thought, blaming for it the fear that poisoned her mind.

At least until Knightfall blocked the Fury, dodged a lunge from the Sage Staff, and was one step away from standing in front of Windfell.

'I'll use my perfect defense to block whatever the Verhens dish out. You focus solely on cutting them to pieces. We just need one final push to avenge our fallen brethren and bring Mogar to heel once again.' He said via the mind link and the cursed scimitar nodded.

By further splitting the hybrid's focus, they would make up for the grievous wounds that still crippled their hosts and turn the tide of the battle.

'Stargazer truly is a genius. I don't know how she managed to make Verhen conjure a water magic spell of his own, but the only important thing is that the clash of the spells is making the air so cold that Verhen's teeth are clattering.

'Soon he will be too to fight or even escape.' Windfell thought.

Then, the first maw of the hybrid opened, hurling a burst of bright violet Origin Flames at Knightfall.

'What an idiot! He's so desperate to stop me from joining forces with Windfell that he served me the perfect attack.' The cursed shield smiled as his entire body turned into a living dimensional rift.

'Origin Flames can hurt their user. From this distance and under Windfell's relentless attacks he has no way to dodge!' Or so he thought until the second maw opened as well and hurled a burst of bright blue Origin Flames.

The two energies wrapped one around the other, their energy signature matching but more importantly, their intents aligned. They didn't clash nor did they stack their power either.

The violet fire used the blue as nourishment to multiply its power, turning into bright white Primordial Flames. Despite their compact form, the Origin Flames carried the same amount of world energy as those that Lith would have produced at his full size.

When they became Primordial Flames, such a compact form couldn't hold their newfound might and it expanded abruptly.

Knightfall increased the size of the dimensional rift and added a tier four gravity spell to suck the flames inside and return them to their sender. Yet gravity magic was still magic and the violence of the Primordial Flames burned the runes into oblivion.

When they reached the dimensional rift, they burned it as well.

The space collapsed, the implosion affecting solely Knightfall and drawing in the Primordial Flames faster. The cursed shield found himself engulfed in white fire that charred his host and vaporized the Davross.

The hybrid's Spirit Eye lit up, Dominating the Primordial Flames and making them form a compact sphere around Knightfall. The cursed shield kept falling apart and regenerating, but it was a losing battle.

The hybrid had yet to finish emptying their massive lungs and Domination ensured that not a single tongue of white fire went to waste. Knightfall tried to conjure his best defensive Spirit Spells, but the Primordial Flames burned the runes the moment they formed, making the barriers implode.

The cursed shield tried to sacrifice his host to gain a temporary boost in power but what little remained of the man he possessed died producing less mana than a red core.