Chapter 430: Lynn, Norah, Rosalinda
The sky of Tenebris, with its sickly purple hue, seemed to descend upon the Desolate Plains as if to smother the tumult of the battle raging below... As far as the eye could see, a white and creaking tide covered the basaltic ground.
Nearly a hundred thousand skeletons, animated by necromancy, advanced in tight ranks, their bones clashing together in a metallic din that echoed against the walls of the surrounding canyons.
At the head of the Alliance’s expedition in this sector, three female figures stood out from the gray mass of the fighting students.
Lynn Of Lake, Rosalinda van Spina and Noriah... Their mission was clear: break through this otherworldly rampart to reach the Spectrum Bastion located at the heart of the demonic mist.
However, after hours of fierce fighting, they had not even come into view of the main base yet, so much was their advance hindered by this legion of undead.
Lynn Of Lake stood on a rocky rise, overlooking the chaos. Her stature was imperious, her purple corset hugging her generous chest while her mauve hair undulated under the effect of the magical air currents she generated. Her blue gaze, icy and analytical, swept across the battlefield with a predator’s precision.
"Noriah! Do not let the left flank get overrun! They are trying to encircle us through the fissure!" shouted Lynn, her voice carrying effortlessly above the hum of incantations.
Noriah, the witch of Babylon with coppery skin and eyes with black sclerae, was at the heart of the melee, on the front line. Her piercings sparkled with every abrupt movement and her short black hair was already soaked with sweat. She wore a wild, almost demented smile as she juggled the forces of nature.
"They can try, Lynn!" retorted Noriah as she pivoted on her heels to face a dozen skeletons in plate armor. "But I will shred them first!"
She joined her hands, the rune patterns shining on her slender arms.
< Elemental Magic: Fire - Pillar of Blaze >
A pillar of roaring flames erupted from the ground, instantly pulverizing the undead into calcined dust. Without even catching her breath, she extended her other hand toward a group of skeletal archers preparing to shoot.
< Elemental Magic: Wind - Hurricane Tear >
A blade of compressed air sliced through the space, severing the bows and skulls of the archers in a sharp whistle. Noriah chained spells from the four elemental magics: Fire, Wind, Earth and Water.. With a frenzy bordering on exhaustion, but her determination remained intact.
Meanwhile, at the rear of the lines, Rosalinda van Spina was working in a state close to panic. Co-leader of the Dawn faction, she was currently dominated by her gentle and fearful personality. Her long green hair trailed almost on the ground as she knelt beside a student whose arm had been slashed by a blade.
"Oh no... it’s bleeding so much... please, stay still, I will help you..." she murmured, her trembling hands enveloped in a soothing emerald glow.
< Nature Magic: Sap Healing >
The wound closed slowly under the effect of her spiritual mana. Rosalinda looked up at the ocean of bones drawing closer, her green pupils dilated with terror. " M-Miss Lynn...! They are too many! Why do they never stop? This... this is terrifying!"
"Rosalinda, pull yourself together!" ordered Lynn without taking her eyes off the horizon. "Your mana is the only rampart against demonic putrefaction. If you weaken, our wounded will die before reaching the Bastion. Noriah needs you to monitor her energy reserves!"
Lynn was not content with directing. She raised her right hand, her ice mana beginning to frost the ambient air, creating a visual distortion around her slender fingers.
< Elemental Magic: Ice >
< Ice Blizzard >
A wave of frost bristling with ice spikes burst from her position, sweeping away the skeletons attempting to bypass Noriah from behind. The impact was brutal, shattering the bones. Lynn perfectly controlled the terrain, using her water magic to liquefy the basaltic ground before instantly freezing it, trapping the feet of thousands of monsters in a deadly stasis.
"Noriah! Fall back ten steps!" commanded Lynn. "Rosalinda, prepare a < Veil of Regeneration > on Noriah’s area, now!"
Noriah executed a < Dash > backward, her leather boots clacking on the cold stone. She was panting, her endurance dropping alarmingly after using her fourth elemental magic, Earth, to erect temporary ramparts.
"Thank you, Lynn... I almost lost a feather," breathed Noriah as she wiped her face. She glanced at Rosalinda. "Hey, green plant! Move your ass! We don’t have all day!"
"I... I’m doing my best!" cried Rosalinda, tears in her eyes, while releasing a burst of spiritual mana that enveloped Noriah in a revitalizing green aura.
The effect was immediate. Noriah felt her muscles relax and her mana rise slightly. "That’s better... Come on, round two!"
But just as they thought they had stabilized the situation, a dull roar shook the very foundations of the plain. In the middle of the horde of skeletons, three massive structures began to assemble. Thousands of bones rose, clumping together to form ten-meter-tall Bone Golems, their orbits glowing with an intense violet light characteristic of the Spectrum.
"Epic rank Golems..." murmured Lynn, her eyebrows furrowing. "Spectrum is not joking anymore."
" M-Miss... Lynn... we’re going to die... we’re all going to die!" sobbed Rosalinda as she covered her face, her bipolar personality on the verge of breaking in front of this new threat.
"No one is going to die here, Rosalinda!" thundered Lynn, injecting overwhelming authority into her voice. "Noriah, focus on the right Golem with your densest Fire spells. Rosalinda, if you are afraid, transform that fear into roots! Use the < Fifth Circle: Thorns of Anguish >! Lynn will take care of the center."
Noriah did not need to be told twice. She accumulated all the mana she had just received in her palm.
< Elemental Magic: Fire - Solar Incandescence >
A sphere of orange flames so intense that it seemed to suck in the surrounding air struck the first Golem at the solar plexus. The heat explosion was such that the bones were instantly vaporized, leaving a gaping hole in the giant’s chest.
"Take that, you pile of garbage!" shouted Noriah, although she staggered immediately afterward, her mana circuits burning from the effort.
Rosalinda, driven by panicked fear, struck the ground with both palms. Her spiritual mana exploded in a disordered but powerful way.
< Nature Magic: Abyss Briars >
