The ground groaned under the weight of the giant golems as they lurched toward the group, their stone limbs grinding with every step. High above, the sky was no longer visible, replaced by a fleet of flying vehicles. Mages lined the decks, chanting in unison to rain down powerful ranged magic from a distance. Spiraling currents of air, superheated and mixed with jagged tongues of fla, hissed through the sky like guided missiles.
As the first wave of fire reached the periter of Raze's darkness, the intensity of the spells began to dwindle. The "Eternal Night" formation was doing its job, siphoning the mana from the air itself.
"Dark Pulse!" Kelly scread, seizing the opening. She unleashed a wave of black energy that collided with the weakened fireballs, detonating them in mid-air before they could reach her companions.
Raze's skills were still doing the majority of the heavy lifting. The dark affinity he had absorbed after defeating Harvey had transford his core; his magic felt heavier, more ancient, and far more lethal than it had ever been. But even with that power, the sheer number of enemies was staggering.
"Is there anything else we can do?!" Kelly shouted over the roar of explosions. She flung a gust of wind infused with fire at a group of mages closing in from the flank. The attack hit a nearby building, shattering the stone into a thousand pieces, but her frustration grew as the mages erged from the smoke, unscathed behind their shimring protection barriers.
"Right now, Raze is doing everything!" she cried out to the others. "We can't even push forward, and the reinforcents just keep coming! we promised we would fight so he could save his strength for the palace, but he's having to use every drop of it right here!"
It wasn't just Kelly; the entire group felt the weight of their stalemate. They watched as Raze soared into the air, his silhouette frad by the glowing tips of the towers. He began to cast a massive-scale Rainfall spell over a large section of the battlefield, turning the dirt into a treacherous, frozen wasteland.
He didn't stop there. With a roar, Raze channeled his earth and fire affinities simultaneously. The sky turned a bruised purple as massive boulders, wreathed in roaring flas, began to fall. It looked as if a teor shower had been summoned to Earth—an incredible feat of multi-elental casting that only a 9-star mage could hope to achieve.
The teors slamd into two of the giant earth golems. The impact was cataclysmic, shattering the titans into piles of rubble and dust. But the victory lasted only seconds. As quickly as they were destroyed, the earth began to knit back together. The stones rolled toward one another, reforming limbs and torsos. The golems were rebuilding themselves, and soon they would be back on the march.
Raze grit his teeth, his mana veins throbbing. He activated his Ti Magic, reversing his own internal clock by a few seconds to restore his spent mana pool, allowing him to keep the barrage going at full strength.
"If Raze is going all out, then I'm not holding back either!" Liam shouted. "System—activate all combat sub-routines! Map the field and find the perfect path!"
Liam's eyes began to glow with a harsh, neon light, and his entire body vibrated as the Red System pushed his muscles to their absolute limit. He blurred into motion, moving along a jagged path where the enemy's spells were thinnest. He moved side-to-side with predatory grace, his all-cutting sword flashing as he cleaved through mages and barriers alike.
His System was working overti, cataloging every enemy artifact. It flagged those who had gear capable of resisting his blade and prioritized those who didn't. Suddenly, Liam skidded to a halt and aid his palm directly toward one of the low-flying ships.
Red energy began to swirl in his palm, condensing until it fired out in a concentrated beam of pure destruction.
'I can supplent the Red System with my own Qi,' Liam thought, his teeth bared in a grin. 'It lets mimic the energy blasters used by the people of Zon!'
Calculating the ship's trajectory perfectly, the blast punched through the flying vehicle's hull. It didn't just explode; the back half of the ship was sheared off, causing the wreckage to veer wildly and crash into a second vessel. Both went down in a plu of black smoke.
'Now that Safa and Da aren't here, I have to pick up the slack!' As the fight raged on, Liam's System flashed a critical warning. The towers were glowing again, gathering a terrifying amount of energy.
"Everyone, gather together in the center! NOW!" Liam bellowed.
Having survived the fight with Harvey by following Liam's tactical leads, the group didn't hesitate. They sprinted toward the center of their formation just as the towers unleashed their synchronized beams.
In a flash of light, Raze appeared in their midst. He had used his Ti Magic to reverse his position directly to where the others stood. He spun, his god-tier blazer expanding outward like a dark shroud. The fabric billowed, catching and consuming the white-hot energy of the tower strikes.
The ground around them scorched black, but the group remained untouched.
Raze looked over his shoulder, a rare, genuine look of approval on his face. "You've beco quite the reliable person, Liam. Thanks for the assist."
Liam nodded, though his eyes remained fixed on the horizon. Despite their coordination, they were still being pushed to their limits. They were inching forward, but the palace felt miles away.
High above in the palace, Idore watched the battle through his floating orb. His face remained cold, but his fingers tapped impatiently against the surface.
"They are on their last legs," Idore whispered. "It's ti to stop playing. We kill the Dark Magus here and now. Trubin... finish him."
*****
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