Supreme Magus

Chapter 4458: Different Roles, Different Rules (Part 2)

’Verhen turned what was supposed to be an Elder’s explanation of how the Awakened Council conducts its business to a young runt into the confession of an arrogant, dumb criminal.’ Ankhuta inwardly snarled.

’I can’t talk my way out of this anymore. I can only fight. And the worst part is that Verhen also got Faluel involved not as the Beast Lord of Distar, but as an heir of the Nyxdra Household.

’If we so much as hurt Faluel, her mother won’t give a damn about our reasons or what role her daughter played during the fight. Fyrwal will likely demand my head and those of everyone who hurt Faluel.

’If the Isharas refuse her request, then she’ll have an excellent reason to declare us her sworn enemies and kick us out of the bloodline awakening project! I can’t have that happening.’

”I’m not going to fight you, Lady Faluel, but I’m not going to turn myself in either.” The Elder Divine Beast released a bolt of silver lightning, empowering himself and his equipment. ”Blood of Selkis, teach these weaklings a lesson!”

The Isharas followed his order and released bursts of Life Maelstrom, overwhelming Lith and Faluel with their mere numbers and the intensity of their aura.

”This doesn’t look good.” The Hydra said as Lith imbued her with Vital Storm. ”Please, tell me you have a plan.”

”I do.” Lith activated the Full Guard spell of his armor, spreading a vast bright violet aura that would hide the energy signatures of the Eyes and Ears of Menadion.

At the same time, he pressed the emergency rune on his wrist guard. A jet stream of Void Flames struck one of the Isharas in the outer ring of the encirclement in the back, stripping her of the power of the silver lightning.

A blast of Blight Flames hit the Ishara a heartbeat later and set her mana ablaze. While everyone looked around to locate the source of the sneak attack and the burning Ishara tried to save her life, Tista hit her at Dragonspeed.

The two Divine Beasts crash-landed like a meteor, and Firefang’s claws caught the Ishara on the rebound, doubling their destructive power. The Adamant blades severed the Ishara’s head and punched a hole through her heart, killing her on the spot.

”House Verhen answers the call!” The Hekate roared before throwing herself into the fray.

’We can’t kill Verhen because we need him yet, and we can’t kill his sister either!’ Ankhuta inwardly cursed. ’If she dies, he’ll be the one to have justification to kill us on sight and ask anyone interested in his bloodline to give him a hand.’

”Beat them an inch from their lives!” He actually said with mad fury.

The death of every stable Ishara bloodline was a terrible loss for his clan. The Elder had been entrusted with the Distar Region to avoid trouble with the locals and ensure that everything went smoothly.

After exposing the Isharas’ agenda and losing two promising youths, Ankhuta knew that his future was at stake even if he won the battle.

The clan leader wouldn’t kill him outright because Ankhuta still had a long life ahead of him and could produce many offspring. Yet no one in the clan would hesitate to sacrifice Ankhuta if it meant appeasing the Royals’ wrath and preventing more senseless deaths.

Two Isharas came at Tista from opposite sides, and she hurled a twin jet of True and Frozen Flames that they easily dodged. Only when they were too close to dodge did she unleash a burst of Void Flames from each battle claw.

The Life Maelstrom faded, slowing the Isharas down and making them feel as if their bodies had turned into lead. Tista was empowered by the Vital Storm, instead tripling her combat prowess.

She lunged, slashed, and cut as she moved from one Ishara to the other with the grace of a ballerina.

She couldn’t focus on one of them, or she would lose the advantage gained from her surprise attack. The Hekate failed to kill the Isharas, but she maimed them and kept them from releasing more Life Maelstrom.

”Stop her!” A female Ishara yelled as she conjured her tier five Spirit Spell, Blasting Wave. ”Rescue our brethren while I keep her busy.”

”In your dreams!” A flick of Tista’s claws activated the many magical formations she had placed across the battlefield while waiting for Lith’s signal and kept inactive until that moment to prevent the enemy from noticing.

Gravity, Spirit, and Dimensional arrays appeared at the focal points of the Isharas’ battle formation, making it crumble. Gravity sent the heavily armored Divine Beasts crashing against the ground, unable to withstand the weight of their own bodies.

Spirit arrays conjured multiple Griffon Fetters and anchored them in place. Every Ishara captured by the magical formations was unable to move from their current spot, and the emerald chain neutralized most of their strength.

The Dimensional arrays Warped entire groups of Isharas hundreds of kilometers away, leaving them stranded in the middle of nowhere and with no idea of how to find their allies before it was too late.

”You shouldn’t underestimate me just because I’m not famous!” Tista conjured a barrage of spells with each attack and block, and more with the Mouth of Menadion. ”I’m the second strongest member of the Demon race, jackass!”

A hail of tier four and five spells blew two depowered Isharas’ limbs to bits while also keeping their remaining allies from getting closer. Tista had her spells detonate all around her, creating a thick fog of mana that blinded Life Vision and made it impossible to spot her from a distance.

The Isharas could only come close to her and risk getting hit by her Void Flames or shoot their spells blindly and risk hitting their brethren.

As for Faluel, she had no Void Flames and was just an Emperor Beast. Even with her seven heads, she was lighter and weaker than the smallest Ishara. The Life Maelstrom widened the power gap between them so much that her battle experience became negligible even when she faced a much less skilled opponent.

”Stay back!” The best she could do was keep her distance and cast seven spells at a time as fast as she could.

The problem was that her opponents knew it, and Faluel couldn’t do anything to stop them from closing in for close-quarters combat and pummeling her. The Isharas surrounded her like a swarm of wasps and stung at her with their acidic tails.

There were so many of them, and they moved so fast that the Hydra failed to keep up despite Full Guard and her seven pairs of eyes. It took the blood of Selkis only three hits to destroy the Spirit Barrier of her armor and six more to tear down any defense Faluel could conjure.

Then it became a bloody dance of pincers, blades, and stingers.

The Isharas attacked her with perfect coordination. Every time Faluel intercepted a blow, she remained wide open and another Ishara struck her side before she could regain her balance.

The Hydra could only partially avoid the ensuing crippling blow by twisting her body. Blood spurted from her wound, and the impact threw her off guard long enough for a third Ishara to attack her.