Chapter 3285 Long Overdue (Part 2) 'Yeah, I have a lot to say about your methods and morals, kid, but that's one of the many things that will have to wait for a better time. Shut up and listen.' Menadion brought Lith up to speed in an instant and received his dimensional coordinates. 'Keep flying toward the exit to keep your options open. I'll get there as soon as I can and cover your escape.' Lith was shocked to hear the voice of the First Ruler of the Flames and a bit awkward at the idea of meeting Solus' mother. It was clear from Ripha's thoughts that she didn't like him and he couldn't fault her for that. 'Calling my relationship with Solus a grey area is an understatement. If I were her father, I would kick my ass. To make matters worse, that makes another woman who has seen me naked against my will, dammit!' He thought to himself. 'Guys, the black chain inside the World Tree belongs to a Demon who is rescuing Solus as we speak.' Lith said to the rest of the group. 'The good news is that we don't have to get in and search everywhere for Solus anymore. 'The bad news is that she and the Demon should be come out from the west side of the trunk.' He and the others were coming from the south side and even if there were no Wood Golems to fight, it would take Lith's group a while to circle the massive trunk of the World Tree. 'Best news I've heard all day.' Tessa flapped her wings with all her might, bolting toward their destination. Then, a colossal hammer struck her on the head and sent her down into the ground like a nail. The Wood Golems surrounding the Yggdrasill's trunk had resumed moving along with the Puppets and their combined combat prowess was nothing like before. With each of their movements, the World Tree's sprouts cast more tier five Spirit Spells while also unleashing the constructs' enchantments. Lith and the others assumed a circular formation, standing back-to-back not to offer any opening while they advanced. "How cute of you." The World Tree guffawed in hilarity. Solus was less than a hundred meters (320') away from the exit and the Tiamat was on the Yggdrasill's threshold yet nothing mattered anymore. The Wood Golems now moved with perfect coordination, their four limbs shapeshifted into Yggdrasill weapons that moved in a never-ending flurry. Lith, Tessa, Fyrwal, and Orion's Honor Guard intercepted every attack but there was no opportunity to strike back. The constructs acted as one, covering for each other's blind spots with their spells and extra limbs. Life Maelstrom made the invaders individually stronger, but the Golems were many, and more kept coming. The possessed deep violet-cored elves harried Lith and the other with salvos of tier five spells-imbued arrows that never missed their mark. Orion used the mystical shields conjured by Honor Guard to block most of them, but each arrow he missed tipped the scales in favor of the Yggdrasill further. Even with his seven heads and the three Murders of elemental crows from the arrays, Vastor was too busy countering the enchantments of the Golems with Chaos Magic to help Orion. Unlike spells, enchantments had no cast time and the Golems unleashed them non-stop by feeding on the Fringe's world energy that acted as a massive recharge pod. What was left of the Demons of the Darkness threw themselves at the elves to draw their attention, knowing they were but ants to something as big as the Golems. Without the ability to conjure anti-Guardian spells and their limited combat experience against opponents possessing the knowledge of the World Tree, the best the Demons could do was act as meat shields. 'Were the Golems always this strong?' Even with repeated uses of Invigoration, the Master could barely keep up. The Puppets could use fake and true magic on top of body casting from the safety of the Golems' inside. To make matters worse, the Yggdrasill's sprouts had as many tendrils and mouths as they wanted, making fake magic incredibly effective. "I'd love to play with you and see you struggle until your last breath, but you have angered me!" The Yggdrasill had just finished reshaping many runes from the former external arrays into two Silverwing's Annihilation. "That was the intention!" Orion intercepted the first with Decay Bastion and the second with his Blade Tier Spell, Elemental Sonata, imbuing it with part of his Life Maelstrom and amplifying its destructive power tenfold. The Annihilation and the Bastion canceled each other while the two spells clashed for a moment. The second Annihilation stopped in mid-air before piercing through the Blade Spell and resuming its advance. It was diminished, but still too powerful. "I'm not done yet!" Orion conjured Honor Guard's Testudo ability and formed a defensive wall of tower shields imbued with the elemental crows from the Murder arrays. The anti-Guardian spell stopped again, its strength further diminished by the time it broke through the defensive wall but still very powerful. The Annihilation phased through the Golems who carried the same energy signature as the Yggdrasill and struck Lith's group. The five of them were blasted off their feet, their armor broken and their bodies severely injured. The Titania's tendrils dug deep into the ground to regenerate their wounds but the Golems chased their prey without missing a beat. The constructs broke the enemy formation, isolating the five. Each one of them now had to deal with two Wood Golems and dozens of deep violet-cored elves on their own. Colossal axes and maces struck Lith's still-wounded body, damaging it faster than even the legendary When All Are One array could heal. Lith grunted, ignoring the pain with darkness fusion, and took a deep breath that he released in the form of a burst of Void Flames from all over his body. Until a hammer blow to his back squeezed the air out of his lungs. Until a volley of spell-imbued arrows turned his face into a pin cushion before detonating in unison, exposing his broken skull to sunlight. Until the Yggdrasill unleashed another salvo of Tower Tier Spells that tore him apart. Lith's temporary Fae abilities kept him alive and he contacted his allies via the When All Are One Array to ask for help. Just in time to hear their requests for help. Orion, Tessa, Fyrwal, and even Vastor were all in the same condition. Their bodies were shredded into pieces which scrambled to rebuild themselves in a hurry before their sense of self faded. The Golems, elves, and Yggdrasil didn't relent, shattering the Davross alloy of the Voidwalker armor while it was still reforming. Lith would have gritted his teeth in frustration, had he still any. Solus' light was so close yet far out of his reach. 'Don't come outside!' He warned Menadion. 'We are surrounded.' 'So are we!' The voice of the First Ruler of the Flames sounded desperate. Whatever was happening inside the Tree, the situation couldn't be much better. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚 'If only we were a bit stronger.' On death's door, Lith cursed his weakness. 'If only Jirni managed to make that damn Chronicler last a bit longer, we would have had a chance.'