Chapter 4023: Snake in the Grass (Part 2) "Fuck!" He activated Doom Tide to absorb the surrounding world energy and released it in a massive dome that hit the spells, forcing them to unleash their destructive power while far away from him. The conflagration pushed the Vurdalak further back and blinded his and Night’s mystical senses. ’This is a blessing in disguise. If we kill Fyrwal, we’ll have the Davross armor you need. Its enchantments may not suit you, but beggars can’t be choosers.’ Night said. ’I’ll use the Royal Fortress armor as a Vurdalak and the Black Rose armor as a human.’ Orpal replied, calling upon his steed to prepare to defend against the attack he knew was about to come. ’I can use both.’ Except he was wrong. No one followed him and no attack came. "Follow the Hydras!" Reaper, the king in the south of the Trawn Woods, led the charge of the Shyfs. "Don’t stand in their way. Rescue the humans and don’t engage in combat unless absolutely necessary. This isn’t a fight we can win." "What he said!" Lifebringer, the king in the south, brought his Gylads with him. As for the Hydras, they singled out the Upyrs still at the deep violet who had no mass advantage over them and attacked them mercilessly. Divine Beasts with a violet core or above were too dangerous, and the Hydras targeted them from a distance with spells. "Do not break ranks!" Jorl the Storm Griffon yelled before panic spread the Upyrs’ formation too wide. "We have the advantage of numbers and mass. Form squads of five and bring the fight to the enemy!" "Excellent idea!" Ufyl the Seven Headed Dragon dived from the sky, hurling seven rivers of Origin Flames at the flabbergasted Upyrs and unleashing as many spells. The mystical fire weakened the magical defenses they had conjured, and the spells blew them up along with flesh, bones, and wood. Three Upyrs died on the spot, and the other four survived only because the attack had missed their Root. "A worthy opponent." The Griffon and the Dragon squared off, separated only by two city blocks. "You are a bit bigger than me, but I’m eager to see how good a fighter a Dragon is. Especially one with Life Maelstrom." Ufyl had reached the bright violet core, and Fyrwal had infused him with silver lightning before the fight. He was the only Divine Beast among the Hydras and their second-best trump card after her. The armor that Thrud had Forgemastered for him fit like a glove and was made of pure Adamant, just like his estoc. Jorl had only recently broken through to the violet, but between his Griffon strength and Thunder Soul, he was confident in his victory. "It’s a tough match-up for me." Ufyl smirked, his seven heads whipping through the air and forcing Jorl to split his focus between them. "If I kept this a fair fight, that is." A silver-streaked purple bolt of lightning dived down from the sky and punched at Jorl’s head. The Storm Griffon managed to raise his arms in time to take the brunt of the blow, but it still bent the Adamant of his armor and hit his face like a hammer. Ufyl didn’t miss the opening and leapt at the still-dazed Jorl with his seven fanged maws open. The Storm Griffon took a step back and conjured a Spirit Barrier to buy himself the few seconds he needed to clear his blurred vision. Unfortunately for him, a whipping purple tail shattered the barrier while it was still forming and left Jorl Open to Ufyl’s attack. ’We could have killed him if we stopped for a few seconds. You know that, right?’ Raagu Drerian, human representative of the Council, said via a mind link. ’I do, but what’s the point?’ Feela the Behemoth, the beast representative replied. ’It’s just one Upyr, and we are currently outnumbered and outmatched. The moment the Dead King’s soldiers recover from our surprise attack and regroup, they will slaughter us. ’We need to even the field and kill them if we want to get a shot at taking out Narchat once and for all.’ ’I know.’ Raagu sighed. ’Gods, I can’t believe so many fools took the offer of that bastard and became Divine Beasts.’ ’I can’t believe how easy it was for him to create so many fake Divine Beasts, instead.’ Feela bolted towards the Lutian branch of the Mage Association, striking down all the Upyrs she found on her path, but never stopping long enough to deal more than a single blow. She too had received a bolt of Life Maelstrom from Fyrwal, and with her Griffon strength and martial prowess, she was just a bit short of a true Divine Beast. ’Gods, if only this weren’t Verhen’s turf and I didn’t have to keep casualties to a minimum.’ Feela looked at the screaming and crying humans, wondering if among them there was someone Lith loved and cared for. She landed near the four Upyrs besieging the Association instead of on top of one of them, not to raze the city block to the ground and kill everyone still there. The corrupted Divine Beasts were taller and bigger than her, but she had Life Maelstrom and six centuries of battle experience. Her right battle claw connected with a still-shocked Upyr’s chest and punched out of his back. It wasn’t enough to kill a Treant hybrid, but she had no need to. Her tier five Spirit Spell, Blast Wave, spread along the damaged vines and vessels, blowing him apart from the inside. A front kick drove the talons of her right foot past the armor of a Sphinx-Upyr hybrid and delivered a tier five spell straight into her heart. By the time the two remaining Upyrs turned to face Feela, the Sphinx was already dead. They each unleashed their best tier five Spirit Spells, but Feela swatted them away with a flap of her wings that were shrouded in a thick Spirit Barrier. A lightning-quick straight struck a Garmr-Upyr in the jaw, forcing her mouth open and delivering a roaring sphere of emerald fire down her throat. The remaining Redcap-Upyr took one step away from the purple whirlwind of death, and the Behemoth took one step forward. A barrage of fists struck the Fae from midriff to chest, each one releasing a Mana Storm bullet on impact. The combined shockwaves produced by the Adamant battle claws and the Spirit Spell ripped the brambles that comprised the Recap’s body to shreds and exposed her Root. Feela smashed it with her next punch, putting an end to the fight. Four Upyrs had died in less than four seconds, making those staring at the Behemoth tremble in fear. Feela’s bloodline carried all of Tyris strength, but none of her bloodline abilities. It was the reason Behemoths had perfected what they liked to call Fist Magic over the millennia. It was no real branch of magic, and the first time it had been revealed, Fist Magic had been regarded with scorn and hilarity. After all, it simply required casting spells with one’s body and delivering them at the moment a physical blow landed. Two things that any Awakened who had achieved the deep violet core could do.