Chapter 3772: The Gate Opens (Part 1) ’If I stop even for one second, I’m dead.’ Ryman thought, caving the face of a Naga in with one of his maces and cutting the extended vines of a Redcap with the other. ’Nobody can use spells or bloodline abilities, which makes things dangerously simple. ’This is no elegant fight. This is a brawl. The one who manages to hit the hardest and most often wins.’ The Fae gave up on their humanoid form and spread themselves wide in the forms of a net of vines that surrounded their allies. Full Guard gave them perfect spatial awareness, and whenever one of the tendrils so much as grazed the Skoll, it grabbed and coiled around him. Protector always kept an ax at the ready to sever the sudden restraints, but at his speed, even a gentle tug left more than a bruise. It pulled his muscles and dislocated his joints. Sure, it also ripped the tendril to shreds, but it was just one tendril among many, and it wasn’t the Fae who ran for their lives. Whenever Protector got tangled, light fusion wasn’t enough to heal the damage before the Upyrs piled up on him. He had to combine Fusion Magic with his Life Eater bloodline ability to escape death. Before leaving home, he had consumed the equivalent of several meals’ worth of food and converted it into life force with Invigoration, storing everything in his children. Frost Soul blocked healing magic and even breathing techniques, but the Skoll’s bloodline ability came from within. His body was connected to the young Skoll hybrids, and the aid they provided him was no different from fusion magic. The nutrients and life force he retrieved allowed Protector to keep running without losing speed, but his reserves were finite. ’How long does it take the others to get here?’ Protector triggered another sonic boom to buy himself more time, but the net formed by the Fae clumped and hardened into a dome that shielded their allies from the brunt of the shockwave. ’This is taking too long. Protector needs our help!’ Solus checked the situation inside the house with the Monocle. ’It’s not like we’re having fun.’ Tista grunted, flapping her wings to get out of Frost Soul’s area of effect and release a shower of her colored feathers. Prismatic Wind surrounded a group of Upyrs and released the spells it contained. As for Tista herself, she activated her Ethereal Aegis bloodline ability, setting her body ablaze and diving back into close-quarters combat. Lith had not stopped fighting for a second, using the power of the silver lightning to bolt by the side of whoever was in danger and lay waste to the enemies with overwhelming power. ’There are too many of them.’ Friya coalesced the golden sparkles of Dimensional Ruler into an extension of her blade that sundered space and the Upyr it contained. ’Killing so many Upyrs takes time!’ "On my mark." Kazam said while focusing on the soft steps of the Skoll. "Mark!" Everyone dropped their Frost Soul so that when Protector attacked according to the Drake’s prediction, the lucky vine did more than grab him. It also carried the full power of a Titania and the Thunder Soul, delivering the blow right into Protector internal organs during the brief contact. ’Restore!’ Kazam ordered via a mind link, and the Frost Soul field filled the room once again. He had expected Protector to stumble and fall. Maybe even to foolishly attempt a healing spell and fall prey to the deadly cold of the Upyrs’ bloodline ability. Instead, he kept running. ’I don’t know what the trick is, but I know there is one.’ The Drake said. ’If the Skoll were immortal or had a Fae’s regeneration, he wouldn’t be so cautious in his attacks. Just a few more blows like this and he’s dead.’ ’Just two more blows like this and I’m dead.’ Protector made a conservative estimate of his energy reserves. ’Even less if I keep running at this speed.’ He jumped from one array-protected area to another to return in front of the pantry and behind the still-intact magical formations. Protector wheezed, his lungs and muscles burning from the effort. He could have restored his arms and legs to their full strength with Life Eater, but he needed it to survive. As for the breath, there was no way to recover it aside from rest. ’If only I could use Invigoration.’ He thought. "Why are you doing this?" He asked while the Upyrs lessened the Frost Soul just enough to allow Kazan to burn at the world energy with Fire Soul. "The Larks have done nothing to you. This isn’t your battle. "You are young and owe Meln Narchat nothing. Why are you risking your lives for him? He wouldn’t hesitate to throw you away if your positions were reversed." Protector’s heart ached seeing so many younglings putting their lives in the hands of a madman. He didn’t want to spill their blood. They weren’t evil. They were just dumb and angry. "Why? Because our families threw us away, that’s why!" Kazam replied, redoubling his efforts. "Yeah, the Dead King is an asshole, but at least he gave us a chance." Said a Fae. "He taught us the secret of the violet." Said another. "He gave us his powers." An Emperor Beast said. "You heard them, old man." Kazan poured more of his mana inside the arrays, corrupting the world energy and setting it ablaze from within. "This is not our battle, but it might as well be. "These people did nothing for us when we needed help, like everyone else. The whole Mogar just stood and watched. Narchat or not, I’m going to kill much more than two pathetic humans to settle my score. Consider this training for our actual revenge!" Protector was far from recovering, but if he waited any longer, the Fire Soul would burn into the pantry, and there he would be trapped between its four walls. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎 He leaped forward with a sonic boom, using the shockwave to push the Drake inside the Frost Soul and the Fae’s tendrils away. Kazam cursed like a sailor as his arms froze up to his elbows again, and the Upyrs moved him to the center of the arrow tip formation. The Skoll just circled the enemy to catch his breath, but the Upyrs didn’t take long to notice. ’Kazam is right. The mutt is exhausted. We need one last push!’ The Redcap said via the mind link. ’Now!’ Without warning or much preparation, the Upyrs lifted the Frost Soul and released the spells stored in their rings. They didn’t aim at anything. They just shot by instinct and relied on luck. At the same time, the Fae formed a dome, shielding their allies from the spells with their own bodies. ’What the?’ Protector was caught by surprise, but dodging random spells moving in random directions was far from hard. The hard part came after. Every fireball released a shockwave that messed with his balance. Every ice crystal made the floor, ceiling, and walls slippery. Air blades and earth debris made the previously flat surfaces uneven, compromising his footing. ’There he is!’ Protector had been forced to slow down enough to become visible to Kazam’s eyes.