Supreme Magus

Chapter 4462: Never Again (Part 2)

Even a bright violet-cored Awakened lacked the strength to conjure a natural disaster without long preparation, but Void Magic turned air and earth into an electromagnetic storm that fueled itself by the second.

The sheer focus required to deal with so many opponents and manipulate the elements with such degree of finesse made Tista wheeze with effort. She needed a few seconds to use her breathing technique and recover her strength, or she wouldn’t last much longer.

’Come on, you bastards. Get scared and fall back. Conjure a Silverwing’s Annihilation or something. Anything slow that will group you for a burst of Void Flames will do!’ She thought.

Yet the Isharas kept pressing forward without giving her a single moment of respite.

’Well, thank you for nothing!’ Tista met the long blade of a glaive with her left battle claw, producing a rain of sparks as the enchanted metals screeched.

The Ishara conjured two hyper-focused elemental spells from his pincers, and the Hekate extended her right hand with the palm out. A burst of Void Flames devoured the two spells and removed the Life Maelstrom that empowered the Divine Beast.

Tista didn’t slow down, severing his neck as she moved past him and kicking the corpse into the line of fire of her pursuers. The Isharas failed to adjust their aim in time, and their spells blew the remains of their friend into bits.

”Rebura!” A feminine voice shrieked in grief. ”We might have still saved my brother, you bitch!”

Tista extended her middle claw in condolences and conjured the Spirit Barriers of the Mouth of Menadion and Ishka’s Honor.

’One breath. I need just one breath to-’ A heavy war hammer hit the concentric barriers from above, sending the Hekate to slam against the ground and cutting her short.

With no longer a high-speed moving target, all the Isharas’ spells reached their mark. A hail of Life Maelstrom-boosted tier five spells shattered the Spirit Barriers and reached Tista.

It was then that twelve bursts of Void Flames struck the Isharas from behind and as many quasi-Blade Tier spells killed them on the spot. The seven Demons of the Darkness formed an external perimeter around Tista, while the five Sigil Demons Blinked to her side.

’Sorry for not stepping in earlier, but we are too damn small to matter in a brawl.’ Varegrave said with a mind link.

’We couldn’t even unleash our Blade Spells because we’ve already used them once today.’ Trion said. ’Another shot and our equipment will become purely ornamental.’

’Also, don’t forget about Doom Tide.’ Locrias said. ’Being so close makes us an easy target. We have to scatter, or these cowards will take away the world energy and overwhelm us with their sheer numbers.’

’You’ve saved my life, and that’s all that matters. Thank you.’ Tista took a single breath of Invigoration that the Swirling Wind conjured by the Demons around her filled to the brim with world energy. ’Now let me help you.’

Her body healed, and her strength returned as she unfurled her wings.

Valia charged forward and ordered the Demons of the Darkness to follow her. Queen’s Blessing turned them all into Void Demons, shrouding them with black flames and infusing them with Vital Storm.

The Void Demons were now three times stronger, and their touch would consume Life Maelstrom. They might still be unable to kill an Ishara, but their opponent now would lose the edge that the silver lightning gave them until they managed to get rid of the Demons.

Tista bolted off the ground while the Void Demons scattered amid the Isharas to keep them from using Doom Tide. She wasn’t alone anymore, but her chances of victory were still slim.

Even with their new strength, the Sigil Demons were still weaker and slower than the Isharas, and the mass gap with their enemies made their blows an annoyance at best. The Demons of the Darkness also had no equipment, so if not for their ability to breathe Void Flames, the Isharas would have ignored them.

A Demon’s spells were powerful, but without Lith, they couldn’t recover their strength and became weaker the longer a fight went on.

’It’s been an honor serving one last time.’ One of the Demons of the Darkness beat his fist against his chest and detonated the energy stored in his darkness body into a brilliant flash of Void Flames.

The conflagration of black flames washed over the nearby Isharas, sending them flying and stripping all those too slow in raising their Spirit Barriers of their Life Maelstrom.

’From below, we rise!’ Another Demon of the Darkness exploited the ensuing confusion to dart in the middle of the enemy formation before overloading his black core.

’Don’t waste their sacrifice and heal yourself, Tista!’ Ripha yelled telepathically. ’No Ishara died. The Demons have just bought you a few precious seconds. There’s no telling if this trick will work a second time, and there are only five Void Demons left.’

Tista nodded, taking deep breaths of Invigoration until Life Vision spotted six Blinks surrounding her from all sides. She shot the last burst of Void Flames into the dimensional door in front of her and impaled the Isharas that emerged from the other Blinks on her free battle claw and tails.

The blows hurt the Isharas and foiled the attacks of their weapons, but didn’t disrupt their focus, nor could they do anything against the Isharas’ pincers and tails.

Focused spells sent Tista spinning from one Ishara to the other like a pinball, while the acidic stingers melted her wings into stumps.

’We need help. Real help!’ Ripha and the other Sigil Demons fought like lions, but they could only prolong the Hekate’s life for a few seconds.

Lith heard Menadion and turned his head, witnessing his sister’s struggle thanks to his keen Tiamat sight. He watched her beautiful wings become black and burn. He watched gushes of her blood fill the air as her life force weakened.

Time froze as the figure of Carl’s corpse overlapped with Tista’s body. Her scales seemed to turn black as Lith pictured her as an adult Elysia, no longer under the Guardians’ protection and dragged into a fight that wasn’t her own.

’Not again.’ Something inside the Tiamat broke, and the elemental energy stored inside his body flowed faster and faster from one eye into the next, forming a perfect circle. ’Never again.’

Ankhuta exploited that moment to perform a flurry of thrusts with his spear, keeping Venkhara behind him and ready to strike. The Elder Ishara’s attack ended with the first strike.

When Ragnarök intercepted the spear tip, Ankhuta felt as if he had struck a mountain. He almost lost his grip on his weapon, his hand going numb from the sheer violence of the impact.

’What was that?’ The Elder Divine Beast thought as he studied the Tiamat with Life Vision. ’Verhen is still weaker and slower than me. Yet he suddenly became much heavier and sturdier. I...’

The parry had coated the spear with Raging Severance, and Ragnarök released a burst of Balefire at the Ishara immediately after. Lith conjured Mana Storm from the tip of the angry blade, his attacks seamlessly flowing into each other.