[Ebonique, how are you doing? Can you use so strength?]
As he rged all the platforms of Myst into one, Erik communicated with his trusted spirit while staring ahead with narrowed eyes, gripping his machetes tightly. The dragoness replied with a solemn voice, though traces of anger and frustration were clearly detectable in her tone.
[Nothing beyond what this contract incarnation allows, and I have to use your mana. It's too risky to use my own mana with that bastard collector's aura being so thick.]
[That's better than nothing. Your special ability and affinities will be a great help to .] Erik responded with a composed tone, then asked.
[But who is this 'collector'? What can you tell about him?]
[He's a spirit on the sa level as Ignis and myself.] Ebonique paused briefly to gather her thoughts before continuing her explanation.
[Though under normal circumstances, he wouldn't pose a threat to either of us, in our current situation, he's the worst enemy we could have. He's an annoying bastard who distracts himself from boredom by collecting all sorts of things. From roadside pebbles to other people's treasures. Mainly because his ability makes it easy for him, and because of that hobby of his, he's sparked countless wars over ti.]
[Sounds like a really troubleso guy, but how much damage can he do through this 'aura' you ntioned?] Erik asked with a serious tone. Ebonique replied solemnly.
[The 'aura' is more like a part of our mana, or rather, mana oversaturated with spiritual force—sothing all living beings, especially the powerful ones, produce unconsciously. Through it, various things can be achieved. For example, detecting others through their aura—though with limitations, allowing others to detect us, but more importantly, it's possible to activate certain abilities remotely through it.]
[…What is his ability?] Erik asked with an even darker expression. Ebonique thought for a mont before starting to explain.
[I don't know the exact details of his ability since no one is willing to fully reveal their weaknesses to others, but in our circle, he's nicknad 'Possessive Bond.' He can basically create an almost unbreakable connection with nearly anything, and it inevitably returns to him. And when I say anything, I an anything. I heard that once he 'stole' all of soone's mana in a fight.]
[The golden chains…?] Erik asked, feeling his heart tighten. Ebonique gently shook her head, still hidden within Erik's hair, and explained.
[Although those chains do carry so of his aura, it's not exactly the sa as his ability… They're more like a low-quality imitation.]
[Can a spirit's special abilities be imitated?!] Erik asked, his eyes widening in disbelief. Ebonique replied with a composed voice.
[Well, special abilities also use mana to function, and even we integrate them into our affinities, so technically, it's possible to achieve a similar effect with a spell. Though in reality, many have tried, and only a few have had 'relative success.' Even when they manage to create sothing that works similarly, it's always been pathetically weak and absurdly inefficient.]
[… I think I'm starting to understand how they created the island… They used that 'Possessive Bond' to gather samples from everywhere.] Erik comnted with a dark tone. Ebonique nodded and replied.
[It's likely, but there must be more than just a replica of that cunning bastard's ability, because even though his ability is powerful, it has so limitations, and an imitation should have even more.]
[…]
Erik fell silent as he reflected, splitting his focus between his Mystic Awareness and his thoughts, sending subtle guidance to Hiyori to change their route and avoid confrontation with other hunters. But as they neared the 'base,' Erik's attention inevitably shifted to the walls, which were already glowing so brightly that their original black color was no longer visible. Now, only endless runes could be seen moving as if they were lava lamps.
But at that very mont, with just one more intersection left before they could finally see the 'base,' sothing changed. As if so critical point had been reached, Erik felt the Myst slip entirely out of his control, only able to manipulate it within a one-ter radius around him. Simultaneously, the walls began to shine so intensely that it beca impossible to see anything.
"Get ready!!"
As he shouted with force, Erik conjured a massive rune-geotric circle along with several smaller geotric circles. The rune-geotric circle was one of the countless tests he had developed in his attempt to understand the theory behind its functioning.
With a dark expression, Erik felt six angelic light wings materialize, then embrace the entire group, at which point a spherical light barrier ford to envelop them completely. At the sa ti, several prismatic Myst barriers ford inside the light barrier, offering multiple layers of protection.
Though the rune-geotric circles hadn't been fully tested, making him cautious about using them since they could be dangerous, Erik had no other choice. While his Myst barriers were powerful, without proper control over the Myst, he couldn't create anything too resistant. Therefore, in an unknown situation, the safest option was to use a light barrier.
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But at the sa ti, unable to mobilize the Myst, he couldn't use Mystic Confluence to empower spells with Myst. This indirectly increased the mana cost of an elental spell for him by a significant margin. This inevitably forced him not only to use the runic-geotric circles but also to push his overdrive to the limit, to the point where he could feel his body greatly straining.
anwhile, the team's mages quickly reacted and began conjuring barriers, but before they could achieve anything significant, the very space around them trembled. As a debilitating dizziness washed over them, everyone on the Myst platform felt sothing grab them by the waist and pull them with force, causing them to crash into each other but grouping them together.
While the world still spun for her, Elara forced her narrowed eyes to study their surroundings. But before she could examine anything, her field of vision was filled with the image of Erik behind her. The young man with starry hair had a dark, pained expression, the veins on his forehead bulging, blood trickling from the corner of his lips, and a strange smoke emanating from him.
"E-Erik!"
Elara shouted with a hoarse, trembling voice as she saw Erik bring a healing potion to his lips, revealing the muscles in his hands twitching violently and the veins in them even more pronounced than on his forehead. After downing the potion in one gulp, Erik gritted his teeth for a mont, and as four magic circles appeared around them, he announced in a rough voice.
"Prepare for battle."
Hearing Erik, Elara hurriedly turned to look around, but what she saw made her swallow hard. Beyond the barriers covering them, Elara could see they were in one of those gigantic halls, and there were hunters recovering from dizziness everywhere, as well as two individuals who seed to belong to two other factions.
One appeared to be from the Lotus Union and the other from the Boreal League. But even more terrifying, golems began erging from the walls. At that mont, Myst arrows ford in front of Erik's magic circles and shot out at high speed toward the recovering hunters.
Just then, in the middle of the hall, what appeared to be a hologram of a humanoid figure ford, though it was unrecognizable. Likely due to damage over ti or sothing else, the figure looked like a whitish silhouette with volu. But the instant the hologram appeared, Erik's Myst arrows vanished into thin air along with the magic circles, followed by an almost robotic voice echoing through the space.
[Ergency security system activated due to a critical failure in the facilities. As no 'adult' presence has been detected, evacuation protocol 7854 is initiated. Please, 'little ones,' follow the logistic units to the nearest evacuation portal. Do not worry, you will find responsible adults outside the portal, and the logistic units will handle any intruders.]
Though the voice spoke in an unknown language, sohow, everyone present could roughly understand its aning. The mont the ssage ended, the figure disappeared, but to the dismay of everyone present, strange music began to resonate in the area. The odd pattern of the unfamiliar song led Tomás to comnt with a hint of disbelief.
"A lullaby…?"
"Let's worry about that later; they're coming for us…" Erik remarked with a solemn voice, then took another healing potion and conjured more magic circles.
With that report, everyone snapped back to reality and gripped their weapons tightly, as the hunters began to gather into two groups, and the two youths from the other factions looked at each other in terror and disbelief. At that mont, the golems, which had accumulated to nearly a hundred, raised their arms forward in unison as glowing runes began to shine on their forearms.
Before anyone could do anything, beams of pure energy shot out from the golems' fists, targeting everyone present indiscriminately. As the beams struck Erik's light barrier, the angel wings around them quickly began to vanish one by one, at which point Elara, who had created several magic circles, announced in a serious voice.
"Phoenix Veil! Fiery Plague!!"
Quickly, a fire barrier covered the group while hundreds of fireballs began to fall from the magic circles above, like an apocalyptic rain. At the sa ti, an ice barrier ford, complenting the fire one, followed by a whirlwind of ice dust.
"Frozen Aegis!! Chilling Cyclone!"
"Expansive Pressure!"
"Combustible Gas!"
"Twilight Rain!"
Simultaneously, Frank, Ethan, and Chen announced their spells, at which point a giant fire rune ford in the air, from which tiny 'fire drops' began to fall. At the sa ti, several spheres of what appeared to be compressed gas shot out to et the falling fireballs and 'fire drops' from above.
At the mont of impact, brutal explosions began to occur throughout the enormous hall, creating powerful shockwaves laden with cutting ice dust, capable of piercing through most defenses.
But despite the impressive power, none of those present changed their expressions; all looked incredibly dark and apprehensive. After all, everyone knew how resilient the golems were, and now they seed even stronger. They had seen how the hunters died like dogs under the onslaught of the golems' lasers, including the pair of youths from the other factions.
As if responding to their thoughts, even as furious shockwaves struck against the barriers, everyone could feel a new barrage of lasers hitting them. As if they were paper, Elara and Christine's barriers were destroyed, followed by Erik's light barrier. But the Myst barriers Erik had conjured managed to halt the onslaught, leaving just two layers of Myst barriers protecting them.
"I'll create illusions to buy ti! We have to escape and reach the 'base' as soon as possible!"
As the other mages, along with Erik, conjured barriers with everything they had, Ethan announced in a voice full of urgency. Around Ethan, a large number of runes released a thick mist.
"All knights with , we'll repel the approaching golems while heading to the third exit on the left."
Tomás announced with a solemn voice as six small magic circles ford on his sword. Erik, who still had smoke emanating from him and veins bulging across his body, announced in a similar tone.
"Hiyori, we'll do the sa as before!"
"Understood." The fox spirit replied with an equally serious voice as white flas materialized around her.
Within monts, everyone was on a Myst platform, and Hiyori ran with all her strength, propelled by fire explosions while exact figures of them split into four different directions. But just before the illusions could separate enough, a new rain of attacks hit the group, though the mages noticed a significant difference. This ti, it wasn't the laser rain; it was a combined spell striking their barriers.
Due to the brutal onslaught, the barriers weakened significantly, causing Christine to look back in panic, where she could see a group of surviving hunters surrounded by barriers and running toward the opposite exit. At the sa ti, Christine could see the golems' fists lighting up again, while new golems leaped into the air, heading toward them with an agility they had never shown before.
(Is this the end…?)
[Erik, run!!!]
***
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