Chapter 4117: Something Missing (Part 2) ’I mean, where is the cool battle form Ripha talked about? Where is the power that can topple kingdoms and bring the Awakened Council to its knees?’ The Tyrant asked. ’I know we have the advantage from the ambush and Call of the Void, but this is too easy.’ ’You’re right.’ Lith thought while studying the situation through his Demons’ eyes. ’Something is off. According to my scouts, this mage tower should be able to blast us away with ease. Either it’s playing with us, or we are missing something.’ Inside the Black Throne, Uragar shared the same misgivings. "Stop messing around! Activate your battle form! Bring out all the wonders that made you into a legend and kill those weak pests like the vermin they are!" "Battle form?" Jorl echoed in confusion. "All mage towers have a battle form." Salanoth replied. "Usually, it’s a humanoid configuration that can move, Blink, and use weapons like you and I. "You surely don’t expect a huge, immobile target to have a ghost of a chance against a pack of Divine Beasts or an Awakened army." "It makes sense." The Storm Griffon nodded. "Yeah, hindsight is always correct." The Black Throne sighed. "I don’t have a battle form. Why do you think I bothered trying to subjugate the Awakened Council? Why do you think I need Night? "Learning how to replicate mana organs from Dusk’s crystal is nice. Having my own source of Origin Flames, Life Maelstrom, and Elemental Flow is the dream of every Forgemaster. "Yet what I’m really interested in is the Horsemen’s ability to heal and alter their hosts’ bodies. I can change my enchantments, but I can’t alter the number of my floors or rearrange my walls without dying." "That’s how For defeated you despite having much less time than you to research tower crafting!" Jorl’s eyes widened in understanding. "His Indomitable Will had a battle form, and you don’t." "Correct." The Black Throne groaned. "The bastard learned from my mistakes and danced around me with his stupid tower while I was a sitting duck. "Yet I was still much stronger than him! I would have still won if not for the Awakened army helping For." "Then use those enchantments! How could you defend against such foes and be helpless against a few runts?" Uragar asked. "Because I’m being ambushed, you idiot." The Black Throne replied. "I came here to meet and evaluate my potential allies. I didn’t prepare for a battle to the death. The temporary geyser I established is not suited for fighting. "Especially after I wasted so much power to keep you jerks in check. You cost me a lot of energy, and I can’t afford to waste more." "Is this about that thing you said earlier? That Mogar acts bitchy when you force a mana geyser into existence?" Jorl pondered. "Yes, but I can’t create a mana geyser. I just steal the energy from Mogar and use it to force an instant mana geyser, but this pisses the mudball off. Why do you think I kept my energy at a minimum until you reached me? "The more power I use, the faster Mogar gets angry. If I overstay my welcome, well, let’s just say that I can barely survive the experience. You guys don’t have a snowball’s chance in the sun. "So, stop busting my walls and give me a hand. Consider this the first test of our alliance." The Black Throne said as the shaking of his structure intensified. Crank had just cranked his attacks up to eleven with his Elemental Overload bloodline ability, conjuring the closest thing to Tower Tier spells. "Die, you bastard!" The white streak across the Hyperion’s body absorbed and amplified the elements, allowing him to exceed his limits. He had put together earth, darkness, and fire to sink the Black Throne in a pond of acidic magma. ’I’m going down in history as someone who faced and defeated a mage tower!’ He roared. ’Don’t jinx it, you moron!’ Phillard rebuked him. ’Or we’ll skip the history part and just go down.’ As if to answer an unwritten rule of physics, Jorl, the cursed objects, and the Upyrs walked through the Black Throne’s door a second after Crank made his claim. ’How are we supposed to find our enemies in this void?’ Jorl asked via the mind link connecting him to his allies. ’Just trust me.’ The Black Thone squashed the invading Demons for the umpteenth time and shared his sensory arrays with Jorl’s group. ’These bastards are looking for something. They are not dumb creatures. Verhen must be controlling them.’ ’Then we’ll take him out first.’ The Storm Griffon infused himself and the Upyrs with enough Life Maelstrom to boost either themselves or their equipment. He gave a second bolt of silver lightning only to Salanoth. ’There’s no point taking the enemies down one by one. We must exterminate those with Verhen’s energy signature in droves and find the real one. With him gone, the Black Throne can take care of the rest.’ ’On it!’ Salanoth, the Ring of Space, activated his most prized enchantment, Captured World, and a squad of ten Demons disappeared a heartbeat later. ’What just happened?’ Lith experienced his Demons’ shock and surprise, but by the time he had shifted his attention to them, they had all been destroyed. ’I could bring them back, but another squad has been wiped out already. ’What’s the status on your Blade Spells?’ Lith was still working on Ruin when the situation had turned. ’Almost done.’ Menadion, Trion, and the other Demons who resided inside the Void Sigils replied. ’Are you sure you want us all to reveal that we can use Blade Magic?’ ’It beats being dead.’ Lith said as a third Demon unit faded. This time, he had paid attention and got a glimpse of the enemy technique. It was something almost trivial, with the Upyrs unleashing Fire Soul to burn the mana and darkness that comprised the Demons’ bodies until there was nothing left. ’Almost trivial because they captured my Demons too easily. They tried to scatter and reassemble into a battle formation, but somehow those Upyrs froze the Demons in place. In battle, a single second of hesitation is lethal.’ "Finally, I can see something!" The Black Throne focused his attention on Crank and Phillard, blasting them away with Tower Tier spells. Or rather, he tried. The Hyperion and Lindwurm heard Lith as well and knew that the number of decoys was dropping like butterflies in a snowstorm. The moment their guardian Demon warned them of the mana build-up, they Warped back to Friya’s position, saving their lives. ’Plan C or D?’ Crank asked. ’First, we must see if plan B works.’ Friya cursed, struggling to muster the strength to conjure her part of Silverwing’s Annihilation. ’I’m just a reserve, but if the mage tower focuses on Lith, he won’t be able to cast the anti-Guardian spell.’ ’Prepare for plan C and D!’ Lith said. With the two close-range fighters retreating and the Upyrs dealing with the Demons of the Darkness, the pressure on the Black Throne lessened significantly, allowing him to focus on the long-range attackers and fire Tower Tier spells at them. Solus, Morok, Protector, Tista, and Nalrond Warped to Friya’s position as well, outside the Black Throne’s detection range.