Chapter 3602 Bleeding Out (Part 1) Each of the six Awakened was surrounded by a Full Guard spell that gave them full spatial awareness of their surroundings within 20 meters (66'). Flowing Strength allowed Iraka to combine the information gathered by her five disciples and use it to adjust the trajectory of her three spells at the same time without suffering from sensory overload. Menadion stopped Iraka's Mana Storm with one of her own, while the other Demons hurled Void Flames at the Phoenix Smash to destroy it before it reached Lith. Yet they had no answer to the rumbling sphere of Breakdown. Especially not while dealing with Axiran's Blood Flames. The Demons kept them at bay with tier five spells, knowing that the Blood Warlock would regain his strength if the Blood Flames dispelled the Daymare. 'Fall back!' Lith recalled the Demons to his side as he quickly analysed the root of the problem. 'You too, Solus. Now!" 'Why?' She was the only reason Axiran's constructs couldn't interfere with the fight, yet she didn't hesitate to answer Lith's call. 'That's why!' The moment Solus Spirit Blinked to his side, Lith and the Demons converged their Origin Flames in a burst of Primordial Flames. The red tide of Blood Flames crashed against the white one, producing a massive explosion that shook the mines to their core. All three sides had prepared air barriers in case Thundercrash shot again, so neither the resulting noise nor shockwave dealt any damage. Yet the Primordial Flames overpowered the Blood Flames despite the boost from Blood Maelstrom and roared their way toward the Blood Warlock. "You owe me one, jackass!" Iraka threw Breakdown at the surviving white fire, sacrificing her spell to turn the tides of the clash. The second explosion surged against Lith and the others, blinding their physical and mystical senses for a second. "I owe you nothing, hag!" Axiran replied. "If they kill me, you're next. Try to remember that in the next five seconds!" He used the respite to conjure more energy from his arrays and stabilize the Crimson Dragon and Raging Phoenix spells before sending the constructs forward. 'Gods, this would be the perfect moment to kill him.' Iraka gnashed her teeth in frustration seeing the groggy Blood Warlock leaving his flank exposed to her. 'Yet he's right. If I kill him, Verhen will kill me.' Then, she turned her attention to her disciples. 'Listen closely because if we come out of here alive, this will be one of the most important lessons I'll ever give you. This is how you defeat a Divine Beast. One: you bring them in a place where their size is a disadvantage.' She telepathically highlighted the limited space of the cave. 'Two: you don't allow them to come anywhere near you. Three: hit them fast and hard without ever giving them time to recover. No matter if you are big or small, a violet core is a violet core! Now breathe, you suckers!' Iraka opened her right and left hands, unleashing two Tier Five Spirit Spells, Griffon Fetters. The emerald chains travelled under the blinding cover of the explosion and Lith noticed them only when they entered the area of effect of the Full Guard enchantment of his Voidwalker armor. The first Griffon Fetters wrapped around his limbs and restricted his movements, while the second pulled him away from the safety of the battle formation. 'Verhen is what I call a choke point, children.' Iraka said. 'Take him out and his Demons die with him. No matter how many he conjures, you can shut them all down by getting rid of their power source.' 'Shit!' Lith used gravity fusion and flapped his wings to resist the pull. He opened his hand, letting Ragnarök free to bolt at the enemy and fight for him. Iraka feared the angry blade and had included it in her plans. One emerald chain sealed Ragnarök from hilt to tip, the World Mirror enchantment found its match in the collective will imbued into the Griffon Fetters. Lith also released a burst of Origin Flames from his body, but Iraka only had to spend more mana to repair them as fast as the mystical fire consumed them. Solus roared, grabbing Lith by the waist and inwardly thanking her mother for giving her the full weight of the tower. Nalrond and Salman shot a barrage of heat rays from their respective Daymares without even aiming. They were still blinded, but at least now they had a clear line of fire. Raging Phoenix and Crimson Dragon formed a living wall of light to intercept the assault, and the Demons answered with fire and darkness. Five Final Eclipses hammered at the two colossal constricts while five jet streams of Void Flames eroded the mystical chains restricting Lith. Some of the links broke, but the extremities reconnected too fast for it to matter. Only a few shattered completely but with five people taking turns at using Invigoration Iraka didn't hesitate to let the broken links fade and replace them with new ones. 'Shit indeed.' Protector had remained hidden around the corner, ready to intervene. He didn't like the idea of sneak attacks, but with his speed, he was the most suitable for the role, and seven Awakened against one Rezar was no honorable fight either. 'You're lucky I was following everything through your senses, or now I'd be blinded as well.' Ryman's mind, not his eyes, had been affected by the explosion. He bolted inside the room, reversing the sensory feed and allowing his allies to regain their sight. Protector attacked the Griffon Fetters with a combination of the Gravity Magic spell, Wheel of Fate, and a barrage of hits of his Adamant mace Ouro, yet he fared no better than the Demons. No matter how fast Protector was, energy was faster. Every chain he damaged repaired itself before his efforts could matter. Once he realized this, he copied Iraka's strategy and charged at the group of Awakened. 'Whatever that array is, it shares the same weakness of Silverwing's Hexagram.' He told the others. 'Every one of its members is a weak point. Take one out, and the burden on the others will multiply.' He could see that the energy flow went mostly from the apprentices to Iraka. It was the reason he ignored the powerful and dangerous woman and aimed at the youths. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚 "How many more of these fuckers are you hiding?" The Council Elder cursed as she was forced to focus on the defence again. Another weak point of Iraka's Flowing Strength array was that her apprentices were so busy executing her orders and feeding her information that they had little attention to spare for their surroundings. To make matters worse, Protector moved like a ghost and everyone else was still blinded. Iraka's group perceived his presence only when he entered Full Guard's area of effect, and aside from her, nobody had the battle experience to react to the sudden attack. The young Awakened froze like deer in headlights, leaving themselves open. "I don't know who you are, but you're not very smart." Iraka growled. "The closer you get to the spring, the stronger the current!" She used the chains she had conjured to replace the broken ones as whips. Their edges became razor-sharp, making them more brittle but also much more dangerous.