Chapter 2882: Merging Flames (part 2)
Chapter 2882: Merging Flames (part 2)
Confused, the monsters attacked the unknown enemies in droves, strong of their numbers. Soon it was evident that the elementals could be hurt by physical and magical attacks and bloodline abilities.
Yet they could also heal by feeding off the energy of their prey. Their size dwindled when under assault from the monsters and swelled when the titans counterattacked, trapping more enemies inside the sphere hidden deep inside their bodies.
Lith had no idea what he had done nor did anyone else. Raagu and Inxialot turned their heads toward the giants and so did everyone else. The fight slowed down a beat and for a second the Black Tide stopped advancing.
'Fuck me sideways, are those some kind of Abominations?' Lith could see with life vision that the elementals carried his and Tista's life force.
The sphere inside their bodies acted like a mana core, providing them with a constant stream of flawed mana. The red titan lacked the water element while the crystal giant was unable to process the fire element, making their opposite go on a rampage.
The monsters stored inside the True Flames elemental quickly turned into desiccated mummies that burned into ashes while those inside the Frozen Flames elemental became ice statues that collapsed under their own weight.
Both cores needed to constantly be supplied with fresh materials, the slightest delay had dramatic effects on the size and strength of the elementals.
Then, the two titans locked eyes and hatred replaced hunger. One shivering in cold while the other burning with fever, they saw each other as a thief who had stolen from them their most precious treasure.
The elementals ignored the monsters swarming them and charged at one another with a deafening roar. Their bodies grew in size the closer they got, their respective scraps gave their nemesis relief from the hunger and fueled their might.
When the two titans locked arms, their limbs merged and their cores were drawn together. The elementals fused into a pillar of fire and ice that conjured strong air currents before fading into nothingness.
With the elemental balance restored, the life force stored inside the titans was released and their corrupted cores had no longer a reason to exist. Their existences born in the clangor of battle and ended in awed silence.
Raagu exploited the monsters' hesitation to take a deep breath with Invigoration and escape from the enclosing encirclement. Inxialot repaired all the damage that his Dread Knights had taken and conjured Spirit Spells to buy them some space.
The Lich King had no care for himself. Any monster that struck him became his food, giving Inxialot more mana for his spells.
Ilthin bit her own finger, marking the mutated black Warg with her blood so that she would always know their position, no matter how deep they hid themselves behind the monster's ranks.
Solus used the Furies' Flight to rescue Bodya. Eight hammers opened the path toward the orc shaman while the original Fury took his life. The moment the earth element was once again under the Nidhogg's control, Bodya buried his aggressors alive and resumed his onslaught.
The only problem was that Solus was now surrounded from every side. With no geyser and away from her allies, she couldn't afford a slugfest. A single monster could do little damage to her, but every hit she took would chip her strength.
'If I take the sky, those things with the long necks will shoot me down. If I stay here, one of the black Warg will reach me and I'm no Ilthin. I have only one way out of this.' Upon her telepathic command, Raptor dived down and the ground rippled at his passage.
Vagrash could swim through solid earth and the Spirit Crystal on the Golem's forehead managed to stimulate the remnants of the original Emperor Beast's life force enough to trigger its bloodline ability.
On top of that, since Raptor had no need to breathe, all the oxygen the Golem collected was sent to Solus, filling her lungs with ease. Claws, teeth, and spells hit empty air as she plunged underground.
'What was that?' Tista asked. 'Why did those things attack each other? We ordered our life forces to ravage the monster lines, not our allies.'
'Respectively, I don't know, because that's what Cursed Elements do, and that's exactly what they did. The problem is that we never mentioned anything about what they had to do after finishing their task since they were supposed to disappear.'
He pointed at the surroundings of the area where the Cursed Flames had been unleashed. They bore the marks of the destruction that Tista and Lith had envisioned together based on what they had achieved with the Primordial Flames.
'Once those things fulfilled their duty, they went autopilot and went for the most abundant source of the element they lacked: their twin.'
'What's an autopilot?' Tista asked in confusion. 'Are you telling me that we could have controlled them? What if they gained some degree of consciousness?'
Lith inwardly cursed, reminding himself that just because there was a voice in his head, he couldn't be as open as with Solus.
'No time for questions.' He replied curtly. 'Let's save our life force and Life Maelstrom for later. Enough with the Flames, let's use magic.'
'Fine!' Tista had more to say but Friya had joined them and their mind link.
She wielded Thundercrash in her right hand, its barrel still fuming from the previous shot. The body of the railgun hummed as the magnetic field charged up.
'I've alerted the camp. Useless to say they weren't happy hearing that they have even less time than we had anticipated.' Friya said. 'My father says to stall as long as we can and, if possible, to find out how the Black Tide moved so quickly.
'It's a vital piece of information if we want to establish another safe camp, especially if the other monster tides can do it as well.'
'Another camp? Are we giving up on the Gate?' Lith asked in surprise.
'Unless the Black Tide stops or changes its course, yes.' Friya telepathically nodded. 'What other choice do we have?'
The moment Thundercrash alerted her that the charging was complete, Friya conjured her Scope spell. The entry point was right in front of the barrel while the exit point was levelled with the ground.
She steadied her footing on Lith's shoulder with Gravity Magic and then pulled the trigger, easing the recoil by tensing her wrists and locking her elbows. Friya just made sure to aim away from her allies and put no care otherwise.
There was no singular monster dangerous enough to be a target and against an opponent like the Black Tide quantity was more important that quality. Thundercrash could shoot a single bullet at a time, but it would fly for a long distance, piercing through everything until its energy was spent.
The shockwave accompanying the bullet was enough to rip apart the weakest monsters while the sonic boom it left in its wake deafened those near its path. Lith saw a corridor opening in the monster tide as the bullet made its way through the sea of bodies. This material is rooted in n0vlbin★