Chapter 1732 - Once And Future (Part 4) The emerald beam vaporized a male Fomor and then moved onto Typhos. He was the strongest in the group, but even he was no match for the collective might that the Tyrant had stolen from the other three Fomors. "I'm sorry, Straga." He said while grabbing the only female left. She was still doing her best to protect him with her elemental pillars when Typhos put her in front of Breakdown and used her as a meat shield. Straga died instantly, but after killing two Fomors the attack was weakened and Typhos' betrayal had bought him enough time to recover his focus. He drained the surrounding area of world energy and used that power to dissipate the remnants of the Spirit Spell. "That was a cowardly move, bro." The Tyrant's maw curled up in disgust, exposing a row of fangs as he aimed one hammer at Typhos' heart and the other at his head. "It takes one to know one, traitor." The Fomor conjured a sword in his right hand and a shield in the left. They were both made of ice, earth, and covered by golden sparks that proved Typhos had an elementary understanding of Light Mastery. The shield cracked under the Adamant hammer but managed to deflect the hit before it did too much damage and so did the sword. "Your equipment is crap, dude. It's common courtesy to leave spoils to the victor." Morok viciously alternated his strikes, breaking the constructs faster than the Fomor could reform them. "There's no point wasting artifacts on a dead man. Besides, I don't need them." Typhos' red eye burned bright a split second before it released a burst of bright red mystical flames. The Tyrant was too close to dodge and the eye on his chest had already split back into six to counter any element that the Fomor could use. Yet the flames ignored his fire Domination and Morok took the blast square on his chest. The impact sent him flying as even his equipment burned and made him lose the edge that the surprise attack had given him. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂 At the same time, Protector and Lith faced Thrud's soldiers while Nalrond and Friya were against the undead. The noise had alerted them of the danger and they were far enough to not be affected by the sonic blast. When the assailants appeared from behind the corner, the creatures had the time to react. One of the evolved trolls, a female Traughen, jumped at Lith with two of her hands releasing heat rays at his head while the other two aimed at his heart, brimming with darkness magic. She used the remaining set of arms to conjure and compress stones into a dense armor to make up for her lack of equipment. She had chosen Lith as her target because Protector wielded his enchanted mace, Boros, while the other human was unarmed and much easier prey. Lith tilted his head so as to place it right in between the tier three Light Mastery spells. His left hand deflected the darkness-infused hands while the right pierced through the conjured armor, punching a hole in the middle of the Traughen's bosom. It was just a straight punch not fueled by mana, yet it crushed her heart, lung, and sent her crashing against her companion. "Don't be fooled by his size and leave him to me!" Protheus had gauged the opponent's real mass from the sound of the impact but his allies weren't as bright. The evolved Warg fell into the frenzy typical of his species and ignored the order. When the creature attempted to bite Lith's conveniently exposed neck, he grabbed the Warg's head and ripped it off the shoulders along with part of the spine. 'Solus, analysis.' Lith tried and failed to retrieve the collar that exploded the second its wearer died. 'The geyser still blinds me, but I managed to collect a bit of data with Abyssal Gaze while you touched those creatures.' She replied. 'My guess was right. Their cores are no longer fallen and they even evolved to the equivalent of Emperor Beasts. 'Yet they are no Awakened. No matter what their bloodline abilities are, they are no match for a deep violet-cored Divine Beast like you at close quarters combat.' Protheus shapeshifted into the Bahamut form as he charged against the enemy. His body grew so big that it blocked the corridor and tackled Lith with so much strength that it sent him flying. 'You where saying?' His thought oozed sarcasm as the impact squeezed the air out of his lungs and dug a new short tunnel in the rock wall. 'I was talking about the monsters, not the Doppelganger.' Solus said with a shrug. 'The guy is a regular yellow cored Awakened with a mass similar to yours. I don't know what a Doppelganger can do, but I can tell you that his fusion magic and body refining sucks.' The hand of the Bahamut turned into the head of a Nidhogg and spat a river of acid. Lith infused himself with the power of the elements and escaped from the tunnel before the first drop reached its entrance. 'The guy is smart and has been trained in combat. His charge was actually a setup for the breath attack. Anyone slower than me would have remained stuck long enough to be drowned in Nidhogg's saliva.' Lith thought as the tunnel behind him grow larger due to the acid dissolving the rocks for meters before losing its potency. Protector felt really awkward fighting against the evolved Warg. Not only did their elemental affinities match, but their hybrid forms were almost identical. The only difference lay in the color of their fur, flaming red for Protector and pure white for the Warg. The creature tried to intercept Boros by grabbing its handle before the mace completed its descending arc, but Faluel's enchantments covered it at well. The moment the evolved Warg touched it, his hand was cut clean as if Boros' handle was a blade. Yet the wound healed almost instantly and the Warg's speed increased tenfold. The creature managed to sidestep the blow when it was millimeters away from his head, suffering nothing but a scratch. Protector froze in surprise for a split second, yet it was enough for the Warg to unleash several low tiered spells at the same time from point-blank range. Ice darts froze Protector's joints while darkness bullets sapped his vitality and an air blade aimed at his neck. The armor blocked everything but the darkness bullets, leaving the Skoll short on breath and with a thin red line on his throat. "Don't underestimate me, brother. I'm not a dumb Warg anymore. I'm Selkar of the Hati tribe!" The creature exploited the debilitating effects of darkness magic to push his advantage. Protector could feel from the weight behind each blow that Selkar's true form was much bigger as well. 'How could he cast so many spells while in close combat? Only a violet-cored Awakened can do that and he's no Awakened at all. On top of that, his hand wasn't supposed to heal nor his speed to surpass mine. 'Sure, Wargs can share their wounds, but even if Hatis can do the same, Lith killed the only other member of his pack in the mine… This must be the effect of their bloodline ability' The Skoll thought while using darkness fusion to cleanse his body.