2546 Bloody Hands (Part 2)
"Are those Origin Flames?" Elina took the words out of everyone's mouth amid Selia's sobs and the kids' cheers.
"No, their power is based on nurturing, not destruction. Unlike the Hati who sacrifice themselves for their leader, it seems that the Skoll's alpha can sacrifice himself for the pack."
"Sacrifice how?" Selia recovered her voice and stared at the flames, now afraid that they might give out and Protector die with them.
"I have no idea where your husband got this much power. All I can tell you is Protector's bloodline ability doesn't endanger your life. Quite the contrary, by sharing it with you, he both gave you guys the ability to better defend yourself and to store the power for him until he needs it."
Selia was about to ask how come she could benefit from an Emperor Beast's bloodline ability despite being a human when she remembered about the bond between a hybrid child and the mother affected her during pregnancy.
"So he can't share his wounds or mana with us, only entrust these flames to us, correct?" She asked.
"Correct." Salaark nodded, opening a Gate back to the Desert now that she considered the issue resolved.
"Doesn't that mean that in the same way we could send him more flames after these run out?"
"Probably, but only if you learn how to trigger the bloodline ability and have access to whatever empowers them." Salaark shrugged and disappeared through the dimensional corridor.
"Kids, do you know how this works?" Selia asked, making Lilia and Leran shake their heads while the little Fenrir enjoyed the power boost to run all over the room, walls, and ceiling like a spider on steroids.
"Bad Fenrir! Bad! Come here immediately!" Hearing the anger and panic in her mother's voice, the little girl slowly crawled at Selia's feet while covering her eyes with her hands and the tail between her legs.
"It's okay, baby girl. Mommy is just worried because I've already wasted some of Daddy's bloodline ability. What if we consume it all and he needs it?" Selia caressed Fenrir's head to reassure her, but the little girl remained on the ground, afraid that her father would get hurt because of her.
***
City of Zelex, at the same time.
After Protector devoured the Hati captain, the members of his team collapsed to the ground. Not only was the bond with their leader broken, but also everything they had passed onto him was gone as well, draining them of both their physical and magical prowess.
The Skoll exploited the sudden burst in his abilities to push back the Fomor and the orc shaman.
Without the Hati supporting them, that side of the battlefront was quickly collapsing since orcs were powerless against Spirit Magic and Balors were no longer a match for Protector.
Lith and Syrah were still fighting, their prowess equally matched. The Tiamat had superior equipment and battle experience while the Queen had the upper hand in magical power and trading blows.
Her bond with hundreds of Hati at the same time bestowed upon her as many spells as her pack members could wave and the ability to fuse multiple tier three spells into tier four, five, and even tower tier spells.
Also, she had no qualms about taking a lethal blow if it meant landing another in return since no matter the damage, she would keep fighting without losing a beat.
Sure, every time she hit, got hit, or blocked, a Hati died but between her battle frenzy and the impending cull, Syrah didn't care about them. The sight of the alleged souls of her husband and loyal subjects trapped inside the demon had clouded her mind with fury.
The only thing she could think about was putting the crowned demon down and freeing them.
'I told you to be careful.' Solus rebuked Lith. 'She's the only one who can kick your ass, especially if her friends give her a hand. Was it really necessary to piss her off like that.'
'It sure was.' Lith cursed when the blue eye of the Fomor conjured a thick mist that drained the mana from his Spirit Spell, halving its power. 'I know that a cornered prey is also the most dangerous, but the more heated she gets, the more effective the second act will be.'
The orc shaman had learned the hard way that the Abomination had elemental sealing arrays at the ready and could drain the pure world energy to restore its power so Br'ey had changed tactic.
She used her mana crystal only for support, altering the elemental balance in the world energy to weaken the demons' spells and empower those of her allies. Spirit Magic wasn't an option since Glemos had never taught it to make sure that he would always have an edge in case of rebellion.
Meanwhile, on the left side of the field, Tista was getting pummelled. The sight of the Hati triggered her trauma, slowing her movements. She was forbidden from using Origin and Cursed Flames, and even reverted Balors were physically stronger than her, let alone Fomors.
A Balor could naturally compete with a bright blue-cored Awakened Emperor Beast whereas Tista was much lighter than that, with a mass slightly superior to a regular human.
On top of that, Zelex's arrays compressed the space beyond her abilities, sealing dimensional magic. The Fomor she was against had already employed the golden lightning from his yellow eye to empower himself, the Hati captain, and the shaman.
The Traughen from the backline bombarded her non-stop with a volley of tier three Light Mastery spells which was both a good and a bad thing.
Good because just like Locrias was wrapped around Protector, Valia was helping Tista to uphold her role as a demon and she could feed upon the light energy to empower their abilities.
Bad because it frustrated the Red Demon beyond belief, reminding her of her failure to graduate past mere holograms, and covering her with wounds every time the intensity of the spells exceeded Valia's Abomination Touch.
Her mass was small as well and she had to keep the layer of darkness around Tista thin to not impede her movements. Also, Valia was already busy countering the Fomor's eyes and the shaman's crystal.
If not for the Mouth of Menadion storing a full set of elemental sealing arrays, Spirit Magic, and Sunder, Tista would have been forced to retreat shortly after the beginning of the fight.
The enchanted Adamant claws that once belonged to Syrook the Black Dragon were so heavy that a single swing generated air blades that could cut through solid rock. It had shrunk so to fit Tista's size and thanks to the gravity spell imbued in Sunder, their weight wasn't an issue.
Gravity magic didn't alter the mass of the claws so every attempt to block them ended up with an enemy either cut asunder or squashed. Even when the Red Demon simply parried an attack, the impact would throw the enemy off balance and damage their weapon.
Most monsters used their fists and claws which led to broken bones. At the beginning of the fight, Tista had exploited Sunder's raw mass as a means to overcome the gap in power with her opponents, but they were quickly catching up and cornering her.
