Chapter 423 (1/2)

Chapter 423

Chapter 421: One Last Ruin

The noise and turmoil of combat filled my senses as I watched each ofsqueals of pain erupted fro monsters, while Boo voiced his battle fury in a roar that shook the mana that made up this platform Mica and Lyra shouted at each other in turn as they worked side by side to hold off the surge

Although Ellie herself was quiet, she made the most noise of all

Three explosions rocked the small platfor claws of a three-arrotesque manifestations that had only been halfway on the platforht faded, Boo was standing between her and the source of the blast

It had happened so fast I had to replay it in ed inward, away frointo a roll, she then i her to the spheres, causing theh that she cleared that corner of the platform of enemies

In alh the air to Boo I recognized this as a cohtly pointed out, relying on euardian bear’s teleportation wasn’t an effective battle strategy, so Ellie had been practicing its control over the last few runs At the command, Boo had disappeared fro her from some of the force

This had happened in less than a second But Ellie didn’t pause to catch her breath, because each monster we killed was instantly replaced by another in an endless cycle of conjuration and destruction

Mica’s huge harace of a baton-twirler, crashi+ng through groups of eneravitational force of the hammer even from across the platform as it pulled monsters into its path only to pulverize them an instant later With Real act ofin Mana Rotation while si the efficiency of each spell she cast

Although Mana Rotation had been instru on her core, it was difficult for her to practice or utilize All this fighting, though, had proven the perfect training ground In just the short ti in this zone, her ability to conserve mana had increased several-fold

Void wind shi+elds appeared and disappeared in flashes like black lightning, warding off any creeping horror that got close to the others long enough for a stone spike, mana arrow, or hammer blow to fell it As a retainer, Lyra hadn’t been trained in one specific role like a normal soldier, but she was a natural shi+eld Her abilities took time to come out, but I saw them more clearly as her teamith the others improved But she didn’t constrain herself to just defensive spells: scythes of cutting air-attribute mana and bursts of sonic force flew out from her in such quick succession She hardly seemed to aiis darted back and forth across the platforh any knot of monsters that lasted more than a couple of seconds, but like me, he held back his full power He acted as a failsafe, preventing the others fro overwhelress

As I watched the shadoolf prowl outside the arc of Mica’s ha his tail like a whip The fla like a torch, and a lash of aetheric fire cut across twoBoo, in turn, pounced, ripping them limb fro new tricks,’ he thought to o before it’s as good as transforon, but it’s useful’

“We runted as she unleashed a spray of stone shards froh several monsters before Lyra finished the the platfor”

I shookit was true “Just pay attention—”

As I spoke, an abos instead of arrown bat

I waited until it was nearly on me, thena gaping hole all the way through it The long, shriveled limbs cracked like dry sticks as it tu into nothing

I winced, shaking out my arm, which ached painfully fro that the platfor me with confusion and shock

“Were you able to catch what happened?” Lyra asked Mica

“No, and I didn’t even blink,” Mica scoffed, her eyes tracking from my hand up to my face “What in theI’ve been working on Just an idea,” I answered, but by then a neave of the aberrant horrors were surging onto the platforle eyes had been focused on the void instead ofa series of disc-shapedmonsters When one fell toward her fro her out of the way as he caught the thing out of the air His jaws closed over its eyeless face, and it dissolved into nothing An instant later, Boo teleported again, shi+fting position only a few feet, and all the mana discs Ellie had laid down exploded one after the other Pieces of severalaway

I inspected their perforly clear that they were a match for this zone We had reached the end of what it could provide “I think that’s enough,” I said aloud “It’s time to move on”

Sweat dripped froree into our well-practiced procedure offrom one platform to the next It took a few minutes, but the tension had eased fro honed the process to a rapidfire exchange Learning to wield the tethered blade felt like trying to teach raphy with my off hand, and I wasn’t sure how viable it would be outside of this place, but the skill had proven essential for clearing the zone

I stayed on the platforh the door, focused on nothing but ainst the relic ar and the occasional barbed tail stabbing like a spear, but they couldn’t touchout with fist, foot, and blade, always in the eye of the storm of monsters

It was like a kind ofthat had happened to us here

I practiced my new technique a couple more times, but each strike left my limbs momentarily stunned and opened me up to attacks from other monsters Still, it was a foundation

The flow of attackers never ended, but after aBurst Step, I crossed to the door and pulled myself into it with aether, focused on the very last platforan to cross

My eyelids felt like lead as they struggled open I couldn’t is; my vision was sleep-stained and blurry I blinked several times to try and clear it A moan came from somewhere nearby, and I shi+fted to one side

The tip of ht, which had just started to coain Warhtly, still trying to get a feeling fornext to me, so close that our noses had touched when I turned There was a poorly suppressed smirk on her face, and she raised one brow “I always knew you’d try so myself flush, I tried to sit up, but the sudden ain “What’s wrong with ht next toe in there? I feel like my stomach has half eaten me”

Boo answered with a low, despondent ru clearly that he felt the sao passed, and I was able to open ain and stand Mica had pushed herself up onto her elbows and was looking around Lyra was curled in a ball on Mica’s other side, cradling her head, her face hidden behind a curtain of fla her face into his thick fur

We were in a short, low-ceilinged hallway It was plain white and unadorned, except for a series of flat, black rectangles along the walls, identical to the doore had used to navigate the previous zone Our bodies had been left to lie on the stone floor while our ht? Any other side effects?” Of dying over and over again? I asked, purposefully not speaking the last words out loud

“My head feels as though ithorrible,” Lyra mumbled from within the cocoon of her hair and arms

“Maybe she’s been infested,” Mica said, wrinkling her nose at the Alacryan “One of those ugly things is going to crawl out of her brain We should put her do before—”

Lyra unfolded and jolted up into a sitting position, glowering at Mica “That won’t be necessary, thank you I believe I a, I approached one of the doors It was sh that I could just see e on the surface, but I sensed no aether or, via Realmheart, mana within it When I pressed a hand to the door, it was s and turn away, looking instead for the zone’s exit portal

At the far end of the hallway, a jet-black arch contrasted against the bare white stone No portal was visible inside of the arch at first, but when I took a few steps toward it, the air distorted, and an opaque, oily portal shi+mmered into existence

“Wake your bodies up Eat, drink,” I suggested, glancing over er feel confident about e’ll find in this one”

My companions didn’t need to hear this twice, as they were all faed out their rations, but only the sound of ravenous chewing—and the occasional creak of a stiff joint—as they devoured several days worth of traveling food in one sitting

Meanwhile, I let the wheels of ht await us in the fourth djinn ruin This, though, wasthan helpful, as I could only hope that the last keystone was still in place, and its djinn guardian active

‘What insight do you think the fourth keystone will contain?’ Regisaround ht? The ability to turn back the ravages of time on an object And Realmheart lets you seeof how mana—and aether, actually—works So what’s the connection?’

I shrugged, then stretched my neck from side to side in response to the stiffness in ether, or how either ability leads to an understanding of Fate We’ve spent so e, but we’re no closer to understanding why

When , they joined me one by one in front of the portal

Lyra was the first, and when I looked at her inquisitively, she raised her hands defensively “Fine, I’m fine I suppose I am adapted to a certain kind of lifestyle, even at war, but rined look at Mica, as stowing her re

“Not that you know of,” Mica said with a vexing s the Compass, I used it to fix the destination of the portal, ensuring none of my companions would be sent off into the Relictoh