Chapter 1735 - Predator And Prey (Part 1)
It would have been a great plan if Typhos' yellow eye didn't flare up, releasing a burst of air element that reminded Morok of Life Maelstrom.
The yellow lightning coursing through his body made the Fomor so quick that he intercepted the weapons before they struck and so strong that he tossed the Tyrant against the wall like a ragdoll.
"A beast will always be a beast! You are nothing compared to the power that the human race was destined to wield!" Typhos reached Morok while he was still flying, hitting him with a flurry of fists empowered by the Maelstrom-like energy that deformed the Adamant of his armor.
At the same time, Protheus had partly reverted his body into the gelatinous form of a Doppelganger to flood the corridor where Lith had moved to avoid the Nidhogg's acid. The liquid mass suffered no harm from War's cruel edge and it was seeping through all of Lith's orifices, drowning him.
'I will eat you inside out. Even if the inside of your body is as tough as your skin, organs are such delicate things. I need to slightly harm just a few of them to kill any living being.' Protheus thought.
Lith could feel his body burn as the acid secreted by the Doppelganger attempted to digest him. His lungs were filled with jelly and every one of his senses was dulled by the viscous mass trapping him, making it impossible for him even to understand where Protheus was.
Yet Lith didn't need to know Protheus' position to hurt him.
Lith just reverted to his Tiamat form, growing to a size that matched his enemy's.
The Doppelganger suddenly felt that something was wrong with him. A weird sensation that he had never experienced was coursing through his body, triggering his fight or flight instinct.
For the first time in his life, Protheus felt pain.
Touching Lith in his Tiamat form meant to suffer from his Abomination Touch. Be it his scales or organs, they all sucked at the life force of whoever was dumb enough to touch them, turning the Doppelganger from predator to prey.
By growing in size Lith had increased the surface of his body that Protheus had to cover while also freeing his nostrils at the same time. The first speck of air he took in produced a black light that seeped from between his scales as it moved from his neck to his chest.
The Void Flames cleansed the lungs, heart, and windpipe of the Doppelganger's gelatinous body before coming out of Lith's mouth. The black flames worked their way up to Protheus' arms, forcing him to cut them off before they infected the rest of his body.
'I don't know what a Bahamut is, but if that thing is just a Doppelganger, then it doesn't have any of their bloodline abilities.' Lith thought while hurling a jet stream of Void Flames that turned the Griffon head into a blazing torch.
He would have liked to flood the entire corridor and kill everyone, but he could neither risk killing Protector nor detonating the crystals and committing the most expensive suicide in history.
Protheus considered hundreds of possible strategies in the span of a few seconds, yet all the scenarios he came up with ended up with his death.
'If I hadn't already lost so much body mass, I would still have a chance. Now, however, not only am I magically and physically weaker, but I also can't afford to touch Verhen without becoming his meal.' The First Doppelganger charged Lith in a desperate, suicidal tactic.
Yet it was just a cover to hide a small piece of his body Spirit Warping away with the Harmonizer. His yellow core was too weak to open a human-sized dimensional door, but it could still open one the size of an apple.
The world energy from the mana geyser blinded Solus' mana sense and the huge Bahamut body covered Lith's regular vision, keeping him from noticing Protheus' escape.
The Doppelganger moved to a nearby corridor that had already been mined for crystals. That and the small size of the dimensional corridor allowed him to reach the surface without causing any explosion.
"Arise, my pets!" Arko said while focusing the six beams of darkness into artificial pseudo cores.
Yet seven bodies stood up and one of them intercepted the jumping Traughen with an open palm strike to the head. Then, the black hand grabbed her face and slammed Arko against the ground.
"Be careful what you wish for, coward." Locrias said while using his Abomination Touch to suck her life force dry.
After the quarrel between the three factions had ended, he had remained hidden, waiting for another instruction. The former captain of the Queen's Corps had no interest in the mission, yet after hearing Selkar threatening the Kingdom, he couldn't remain idle.
The sight of the undead had triggered his memories of Night's attack on the Verhens and of all Locrias' colleagues that had died during the war against the Courts. Lith's rage seeing Protector in danger mixed with Locrias', spurring him into action.
Arko pummelled at the Demon with her six arms and considerable strength, but to no avail. Lith's conjured Demons of Darkness usually didn't amount to much because he split his mana among dozens, if not hundreds of them.
Locrias, however, had been summoned alone. He had been given the power to wield five eyes and the shadows comprising his body were so dense that they were tangible.
The six lesser undead shambled left and right, conflicted between the order of attacking Protector and defending their own master. The brainless creatures couldn't make a decision of their own and tried to perform both tasks at once.
The Skoll didn't miss the opening that Locrias had created and attacked at the Hati with his mace, Boros. The first hit shattered Selkar's arms, leaving him defenseless from the waist to the head.
The Hati conjured a hail of low tiered spells weaved by his packmates, but this time Protector was ready and sidestepped them with ease. The second blow caved Selkar's skull, damaging his brain beyond what the Elder Beast's sharing ability could mend.
As Selkar's death sent the pack of Hati that lived inside the Golden Griffon into a frenzy, Arko conjured six blades of light. They weren't hard-light constructs, just short streams of highly condensed plasma the Traughen used to stab at the Demon.
Yet they only made Locrias stronger as the spark of Chaos inside of him devoured the light energy.
'I can't believe that once I had problems dealing with trash like this.' The exhilaration from the feeding frenzy and from the power coursing through him made the Captain forget about his past life for a second.
Then the pain returned and his fury only grew stronger. The Demon crushed Arko's skull, seeping inside her corpse to become a Demon of the Fallen and add her strength to his own.
"Thank you for your help." Protector said, giving him the salute.
Locrias was still crestfallen at the thought of having lost himself to the feeding frenzy, acting no better than an undead. Yet his body returned the salute by instinct, reminding him why he had chosen to walk like a shadow in a world of lights.
"The mission is not over.." He said before turning to help Morok.