Chapter 3533: Surprise Party (Part 2)

Published Apr 10, 2026, 04:05 AM

The Emperor Beast who had attacked Solus had a massive upper body compared to his lower body and judging from the shape of his armor Lith determined he had to be some kind of feline Emperor Beast. They were all covered in a full suit of sleek armor, making only the outline of their bodies clear. The one coming at Lith, instead, had six arms and below his waist there was a snake tail instead of legs, identifying him as a Naga. The third one had thin arms and legs that ended in taloned fingers and feathered wings coming from his back. ’I got their energy signatures with the Eyes.’ Lith said while using his sword, the metal tower shield, and the one conjured by the tier Four Mage Knight spell, Frost Guard, to block the Naga’s flurry of attacks. ’We can now kick their asses but keep holding back. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦 ’We want them to escape and return to their base to call for reinforcements, not an emergency evacuation.’ ’Copy that.’ The feline Emperor Beast weighed hundreds of kilos but Solus weighed tons due to her bond with the tower. On top of that, she had reached the deep violet core whereas under his cloaking ring her opponent was still a bright blue core. The use of the anti-mana toxin allowed even violet-cored Emperor Beast to have a chance at Awakening, but there was a catch. A non-Awakened violet core was overloaded with mana and without a proper technique to turn the vortexes into auxiliary cores, the excess mana would be lost forever after the Awakening process was complete. She was faster, stronger, and her fusion magic was more efficient. Even with her limited battle experience, it took her a few exchanges to gain the upper hand. The feline Emperor Beast had spells at the ready but couldn’t cast more during the battle. Solus, instead, had no spells at the ready but she could conjure as many as she wanted with body casting. At first, she just neutralized the enemy’s spells but soon also launched counter spells. "This fucking midget is an Emperor Beast! I need help!" The feline said. There was no other possible explanation for someone so small dealing blows heavier than his own and having such monstrous strength. "Go!" The avian Emperor Beast nodded at the Naga, sure he would be able to handle the human on his own. Lith smirked under his helm, seeing a way to put an end to the fight without revealing too much of his strength. ’I’ll pretend to go all out against bird boy and use my full power to deliver a "lucky strike" that will kill him on the spot. After that, Solus and I can let one of the remaining two "hold us off" while the last one escapes.’ Or so he thought until the Naga coiled his lower body like a spring and jumped at Solus. The attack was nothing special, Lith and Solus had seen Bodya do much better countless times. The problem was that both the feline and avian Emperor Beast jumped back as the Naga bolted forward. ’What the heck?’ Solus raised her guard and prepared her spells while studying the situation with the Eyes. According to the artifact, no new spell was being cast. The Naga was just taking something out of his dimensional amulets after disabling the space-sealing array for a second. Six alchemical beads each the size of a pea appeared in the Naga’s hands who shot them like bullets with a flick of his thumbs. The three Emperor Beasts conjured the tier three air magic spell, Stormhowl. It was a basic spell even magicos could use, meant to generate a powerful wind blast that would blow the enemy off their feet and disorient them. This time, however, it was used to carry the alchemical beads and accelerate them further. Lith and Solus perceived the beads through Full Guard and struck them with pinpoint heat rays to burn whatever the bullets contained while also shrouding themselves with darkness magic. The alchemical beads exploded on impact, releasing a fine powder that Stormhowl delivered to its destination before the darkness layers could fully form. The heat rays opened wide holes in the mist curtain but most of it reached its targets. ’What the heck is this, Lith?’ Solus asked yet only silence answered her. The corner of her mind where Lith’s light was supposed to be was now empty. ’I’m fine, Solus. What about you?’ It took Lith a split second to realize their bond was intact yet the mind link was broken, and even less to understand the reason. The elements flowing inside his body due to fusion magic went haywire. His right arm burst into flames while his left leg turned into a lump of ice. Jolts of electricity shocked his brain and the bones of his left arm turned into stone while he lost all sensibility in his right leg. ’These fuckers have completed Hatorne’s work! They have developed an anti-air, -earth, and -darkness toxin too!’ The only silver lining in Lith’s predicament was that most elemental flows canceled each other, limiting the damage. As for Solus, she kept her cool and released all the spells she had prepared yet nothing happened. Experience more on freewebnovel ’What the-’ A rain of blows she was incapable of following anymore rained on her from every direction, derailing her train of thought. Unlike Lith, her fusion magic didn’t hurt her but only because it had stopped working. Even Spirit Barriers let light and air in, or their caster would be blinded and suffocate. The toxins had been refined to be small enough to exploit such an opening just like the joints and fissures in armor. Stormhowl had covered Solus in anti-mana toxins that had been quickly absorbed through her skin and reached her blood flow, spreading them to the rest of her system. Her body was still strong and her mind keen, but now she had lost her gift for magic. She could remove the toxin with Invigoration yet using a breathing technique required calm and focus and she had neither. The avian Emperor Beast’s beak curled up in a smile as he prepared to put the Knight Guard out of his misery. Frost Guard had turned against its caster, the sword and shield were as limp as the arms holding them. As he thrust his spear forward, he noticed how the Knight Guard had taken a deep breath, and his entire body was now shrouded in flames. ’Immolation is one of the worst ways to die. This idiot should have stopped using fusion magic and let me do my job.’ He thought while Lith pushed the tip of the avian Emperor Beast’s spear away with Pride and pierced through his heart with a guarded thrust. Blood gurgled out the creature’s throat as he finally realized those weren’t flames but Origin Flames Lith had used to cleanse his body from the toxins. "You are…" "Shush." Lith twisted the blade as he pulled it out, leaving a gaping hole in the enemy’s chest that covered part of the left lung. A quick second swing of Pride severed the Emperor Beast’s head from its neck and the secret died with him.

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