Chapter 4024: Five Minutes (Part 1) Yet only Behemoths had the strength to break past an enemy’s guard even with a casual strike and the discipline to practice releasing their spella not before the hit landed or after the enemy had started recoiling, but in the fleeting moment between successful attack and reaction. ’It’s my turn now. Cover my back.’ Raagu had five concentric rings of light shining on her arms and three more on her back. Each ring was a powerful magical formation that she had cast, conjured, and kept at the ready with no burden for her focus. The Human representative’s secret technique allowed her to have multiple arrays and a full mana core at her disposal. She had already used Invigoration before the battle started and cast more arrays as soon as she consumed those she had prepared. A Sealed Space array enveloped the branch of the Mage Association, driving away the effects of Frost Soul but also its connection with the world energy. Raagu shaped the Sealed Space in a pillar tall enough to escape the area of effect of the Upyr’s bloodline ability. Then, she used a second array to form a powerful Spirit Barrier to protect the fragile dimensional seal, and opened a Spirit Warp Steps right on top of it. Unspoiled world energy flooded the Sealed Space, diluting what was left of the Frost Soul until elemental magic worked again. The Warp Gate of the Association thawed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and its runes charged up. The request for reinforcements finally reached the city of Valero,n and the dimensional tunnel opened. "Bring those arrays down, now!" Akhton the Bastet said as he led his squad against the two Council representatives. ’Raagu?’ Feela could dodge almost every weapon and most spells with ease, but the magical formations couldn’t move, and there were only so many attacks the Behemoth could intercept. ’I’m on it. Don’t worry and just buy me some time.’ New circles of light replaced those she had just consumed. ’Have faith in the Council.’ ’About that, where is Inxialot?’ Feela asked. *** Thousands of kilometers away, in the Kellar region, the Undead representative had already forgotten about the emergency call. "Sure thing, sugar lips. I’ll be there in five minutes." He had said to Raagu, and right there and then, he meant it. "Just the time to put my ongoing experiment in stasis." Inxialot had even taken a note to ensure he wouldn’t forget about his fight-date. Alas, once he was done with his battle preparations, he had no memory of what he had prepared for. "Thank the gods I take notes for everything." And indeed he had. The note read: "Only five more minutes. Do not delay one second longer." The King of Liches furrowed what was left of his rotten brow, trying to decipher the cryptic message he had left to himself. "A training drill?" He pondered out loud. "Or maybe my experiments needed five minutes of stasis sharp to stabilize. That’s why I set the chronometer!" At the five-minute mark, Inxialot undid the stasis arrays and discovered that indeed the volatile energies he had conjured had assumed a stable form and were ready to be employed for the next stage of his research. "Wonderful!" He was as full of enthusiasm as a child opening his birthday gifts. "I’m really a genius. Too bad I didn’t write down how I calculated the necessary stasis time. Five minutes is a weirdly precise number." Not to miss anything else, Inxialot wrote everything about his latest discovery down to the smallest detail and resumed his work. That day turned out great for the King of Liches. For the Kingdom, however, not so much. *** Meanwhile, in the skies of Lutia, Orpal was done being ignored. "I didn’t expect the Council to intervene so quickly, but no matter. I still hold the advantage." He spun Thorn over his head, conjuring his Blade Tier spell and unleashing a volley of Waling Wind. The darkness element that was overabundant during the night flooded the crystal in his chest and moved into the Davross spear that amplified every spark of mana Orpal injected into it The souls of Night’s victims seemed to take form from the crackling energy that swirled around Thorn’s blade, weeping for their fate. Each lunge of the spear conjured strings of runes in the air and generated several pillars of darkness that rained down on the Hydras like divine retribution. One Wailing Wind wasn’t enough to kill an adult Lesser Divine Beast armored in Adamant, but it struck them down, leaving them helpless against the Upyrs with whom they were fighting to the death. "You can run, little snakes, but you can’t hide!" Thorn shone brighter and brighter as Shattered Moon reached completion, forming a sphere of silvery light so bright that a second full moon seemed to have risen in the night sky. Orpal had no qualms about harming helpless humans and aimed the Wailing Winds so that whenever a Hydra dodged his attack, it would still hit a building. Meanwhile, Ufyl tussled with Jorl on the ground in a constant battle of claws against talons and spells against spells. The Storm Griffon had a weaker core but a stronger body, and Thunder Soul made every one of his attacks deadly. To make matters worse, Jorl was a Light Master and moved the constructs that he had conjured before the battle like extensions of his being. They turned into muzzles that clamped Ufyl’s mouths down before he could bite, shields that deflected his acidic spit, or blades ready to lunge at the joints of his armor. Despite that, the Seven Headed Dragon held his ground and played to his advantages. The equipment the Mad Queen had gifted him was much better than what Orpal’s Forgemasters had crafted for Jorl, and his seven heads allowed Ufyl to anticipate and counter the Griffon’s every move. More importantly, the Seven Headed Dragon had received Thrud’s personal training and sparred countless times against his fellow generals. Ufyl was used to fight against Griffons and all sorts of unknown Divine Beasts, whereas Jorl had never met a Seven Headed Dragon before. "You are a good fighter, kid." Jorl spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling his light fusion barely keeping up with Ufyl’s venom that dripped from the Griffon’s still-open wounds. "Loyal, motivated, and feral. I respect that." "You, instead, are a piece of shit." Ufyl’s seven mouths panted heavily, trying to catch their breath. "You didn’t even try to avoid killing those people." He looked at the devastation surrounding them, filled with deep craters that reeked of burned meat. "And you didn’t even try to stop me." Jorl licked the jagged edges of his Upyr beak, thirsty for the Dragon’s blood. "That’s on you, kid. Just like this." The Storm Griffon coalesced his construct into a highly compressed heat ray that he shot at an unaware Hydra who had her back turned on him. At the same time, he dug his talons deep into the ground and sprinted forward. Ufyl hesitated for a split second, torn between the urge to warn Xesha and defend himself. Half of his heads calculated her odds of survival once the Upyr she was fighting against gained the upper hand, while the other half focused on Jorl.