'I told you that you shouldn't have come here. Ajatar would have played this role better and with a lot less risk.' Valia supported the Red Demon by acting both as her protective exoskeleton and her coach.
In their shadow form, the Demons of Darkness could guide a willing host and move their body for them. The former member of the Queen's Corps possessed a greater martial prowess and a better footwork technique than Tista and was using them to ensure her survival.
'This whole mission is a risk!' Tista pivoted on the balls of her feet to sidestep a spear thrust and then was forced to weave under the fist of a Balor boosted by Ryla's golden lightning, losing the opportunity to counterattack.
'Besides, these guys are afraid of demons and I'm the only other living Demon on Mogar aside from Lith. There would be no point in my presence here if I were to just sit back and let the others do all the work!'
Back when Lith had explained his plan, he had also warned the rest of the group about the enemies' numbers. There were thousands of monsters in Zelex and even assuming that only those supposed to die in the cull would take part in the fight, they would still vastly outnumber his Demons.
Sure, Lith could make up for quantity with quality since the mana geyser provided him with plenty of energy and he had the time to bring them all up to five or six eyes. Yet the problem was that the fight had to be balanced and with minimal casualties, not an all-out war.
Their goal was just to bring the children of Glemos to compliance, otherwise they might as well have called the Awakened Council and washed their hands of it.
Tista had eagerly volunteered to act as a leader of the invasion and due to her condition, Lith had chosen her over the Drake.
Tista's conflicting life forces were a few weeks away from the point of non-return but during her fight in the Empire against the cursed objects, she had discovered a way to buy herself more time.
The human, Dragon, and Phoenix sides stopped clashing against each other every time Tista was in a life-or-death situation, focusing on survival rather than dominance.
The problem was that the opponent had to exert real killing intent, spars didn't work.
'There's no telling if Faluel and Ajatar can crack the Harmonizers in time and Forgemaster a version suitable for my life force. Those that the monsters wear are specific for their fallen state whereas I'm just a hybrid. They are useless to me.' She thought.
The six-eyed Balor charged at her, his body shrouded with violet flames and with bolts of lightning erupting from his energy wings. Tista jumped to the right to avoid the attack, but thick vines burst from the ground under her feet, locking her into place.
Reverted ogres had powers similar to plant folk, allowing them to control the ground and vegetation despite the presence of the earth sealing arrays protecting Zelex. They were bloodline abilities based on life force and Tista's lack of the Spirit Eye made her helpless against them.
Valia did her best to drain the vines with Abomination Touch as quickly as she could but the Balor was faster. He hit Tista like a speeding train, his heavy fists bypassed her attempt to block with Sunder and reached her chest, shattering her ribs.
The bolts of lightning coursed through her armor and caused a seizure that paralyzed her.
'Fucking bastards! Because of those damn arrays, Life Vision can't see below the ground and even though I'm using darkness fusion, it doesn't help against muscle spasms.'
The Hati captain didn't miss the opening and swung his claws at her throat while channeling the power of his entire pack. The slash would have decapitated the Red Demon if not for Valia taking the wheel.
A quick backstep and tilting Tista's body brought her back almost out of range. The claws cut through the Adamant of the Voidwalker armor and left a shallow wound on her neck that light fusion closed instantly.
The damaged enchanted metal of the armor simply turned liquid for a split second and returned to its original state, leaving no trace of the nigh-lethal attack.
'Thank the gods Demons of Darkness can't have seizures or I'd be dead.' Tista telepathically thanked Valia for the save.
'Happy to help.' Valia replied. 'Yet I really don't get it. If you achieve the violet core, no matter what life force you pick, this fight would be much easier. Your body, mana core, and body casting would instantly improve by leaps and bounds.
'I mean, you don't need enlightenment or to find a way to tap into your hidden potential. It's just a choice. It's like being at a fancy restaurant after waiting for years to get your reservation and then fail to have dinner because you stared at the menu the whole time.'
'I know.' That was all Tista had to say, gritting her teeth in embarrassment while Valia kept dodging the Hati's relentless assault. 'It's just…'
Tista had done that speech so often that even she was disgusted by it. Picking her human side meant losing all of her bloodline abilities whereas picking anything else meant losing a part if not all of her humanity.
There would be gains but also irremediable losses and that was what scared her even more than fighting an army of monsters.
'No need to explain yourself to me.' Valia let go of Tista the moment earth fusion grounded the bolts of lightning. 'It's your choice, not mine. My only complaint is that in your current state, you can't even use body casting anymore.'
The Red Demon gritted her teeth even harder and slashed with Sunder in a frenzy. The volley of air blades was invisible due to not being produced by mana but simply by the sheer pressure exerted by the Adamant claws.
Also, their trajectory was random, making them even harder to dodge. The front line of monsters suffered heavy casualties without even understanding what had happened.
The six-eyed Balor and the orc shaman tried to suck the air element and neutralize the attack, respectively with their wings and crystal. Yet there was no air element, only air pressure.
The Balor failed to dodge one of the blades, losing his right arm and two wings for it. The Hati was so close that he would have been filleted if not for his bloodline ability passing the damage to the other warg and killing the weakest among them to spare the rest of the pack.
As for the shaman, Traughen and reverted trolls stood in front of her, acting like meat shields.
They suffered gruesome wounds, but the Decay energy from their cores healed them the moment they opened, offering great resistance to the blades that had to cut through the regenerating tissues multiple times.
Trolls disliked pain like anyone else, but being hurt drained the excess light element in their bodies and temporarily stabilized their semi-fallen state. The final result was that the air blades failed to kill them and that they could safely conjure darkness magic.
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