The Mad Queen tried to activate her Sword’s Ruler’s Will ability to cancel the blue flames, but to no effect. They didn’t consist of normal mana which she could assume control of, but of pure world energy ignited by a spark of Lith’s life force. The Armor still protected her even from that kind of threat, yet she noticed that the flames’ intensity wasn’t dwindling over time. They ate at the Armor’s gravity sheath like it was their fuel, wearing down its pseudo core as it was forced to spend mana to keep its master safe. Thrud activated the Frozen Heart spell stored within the cyan gemstones engraved on the blade. The tier five spell snuffed out the flames and attacked Lith at the same time. He dodged it while keeping himself in her blind spot. His left hand conjured a cold gale as his right hand took control of the remaining energy of Frozen Heart, adding it to his own spell. After beating Lith’s fire breath, the Sword’s spell was reduced to the intensity of a tier two chant. Lith and Solus worked together to weave their tier three water spell like it was tier five. Its power would still be that of a tier tree, but by merging it with Frozen Heart’s remains, they took it up a notch and now their will flooded within the spell’s every fragment. They didn’t just link their mana to the world energy to conjure the ice hail, they also continued to control it even after the mana was outside of their bodies, like they did with Necromancy spells. Thrud countered it with Ruler’s Will as she prepared her new spell, but once again Arthan’s Sword failed her. The willpower Lith had infused the ice with repelled the Mad Queen’s, so that the razor sharp icicles struck her and interrupted her chant. ’Dammit, that sword is troublesome.’ Lith inwardly cursed. ’Controlling every single piece of ice required a lot of mental energy. It’s no wonder that tier five spells only create a small number of focus points. Splitting your will like that is exhausting.’ To add insult to injury, all of their efforts had barely resulted in a few more bruises. Tired of Arthan’s Armor’s interference, Lith unleashed a barrage of first magic spells. None of them was strong enough to kill Thrud, but they were naturally infused with their caster’s will, making them impervious to Ruler’s Will. The Mad Queen cursed loudly as her spells were interrupted one after the other and her mana went to waste. After Thrud’s timely Blink had messed up her plan, Jirni finally reached the two as she signaled Manohar to be ready to step in. Her plan, or rather, her gamble, would be difficult to pull and they only had one shot at it. Her body enhancing potion was about to wear off, and once it did, taking another so soon would have reduced effects. Jirni was past her prime, but even if she was still young, her body would never be able to keep up with Thrud on its own. ’I don’t want my death to be just another statistic in this madness.’ She inwardly griped as she executed a leg sweep from the Mad Queen’s blind side. Thrud was thrown off balance, yet she didn’t care. The hit had allowed her to pinpoint the enemy’s position. She swung her blade against the new threat and unleashed streams of lightning against them. Exactly as Jirni had predicted. She held half of her needles in her right hand and the other half in her left as she used them as a pincer to grab hold of Arthan’s Sword and rip it from Thrud’s grip. That was the easiest and yet the most dangerous part of her gamble. Usually, the needles Orion had Forgemastered for her were perfect lightning rods, able to protect her from that kind of attack. Unfortunately, the electricity produced by the Sword had already proved to be able of ignoring her artifact. Jirni could only hope that with them being in direct contact with the enchanted blade, they could absorb most of the lightning before it had the opportunity to strike her. Even with her iron will and rigorous training, Jirni was still human. There was only so much damage she could bear until it made her lose focus and her hold on her enemy’s weapon all at once. Once again, Orion’s masterpiece didn’t let her down. Jirni was the spell’s target, so the electricity followed the path of least resistance towards her hands and most of it was trapped by the enchanted needles. Jirni withstood the spell as she pulled with all of her might, yet her plan was doomed to fail. Even from such an awkward position, Thrud’s grip was still too strong for Jirni. The potion wasn’t enough to overcome the difference in height, weight, and physical prowess. At least not until Lith understood what was happening and used all the spirit magic he could muster to hinder Thrud’s movements and add his own pull to Jirni’s. Arthan’s Sword flew across the room for only a few meters before doing a U-turn in mid air. The enchanted weapon wasn’t sentient, but among its many spells, there was one which allowed its master to recall it to their side with a thought. "Now!" Jirni yelled at Manohar. The Mad Professor Blinked right in front of Thrud, hitting her with two open palms. She sneered at his weak attack and struck at his elbows with her fists, shattering his arms. Blinding pain almost made Manohar faint. Only sheer willpower coupled with gritting his teeth like his life depended on it allowed him to retain his consciousness. ’Dammit, I hate pain. I knew that taking one for the team was a bad idea, but dying sounds like an even worse one.’ He thought while the healing spell he had prepared in advance restored his blood vessels and ligaments the moment they were torn apart. Thrud’s fists were slightly bigger than his own, yet they hit like a sledgehammer. Her smug grin disappeared as she felt her full armor returning to its normal weight. ’The enchantments on her protections have stopped working!’ Solus announced with joy. Jirni ignored her pain and Lith ignored his fatigue while they circled around their enemy making it impossible for her to guard herself against both. The skill gap between Thrud and her opponents was massive, but not even she could block attacks from behind. Soon the damage she sustained was too much, even for her perfect physique. "Enough!" She yelled as her eyes turned orange with the activation of the corresponding gemstone on Arthan’s Sword. As Thrud crouched down to prevent being beheaded by Lith’s horizontal slash, her weapon generated a small flaming sphere that affected everything in the surroundings except her body. Lith and Jirni were blasted away by a roaring explosion that left the floor charred black. The Mad Queen used that moment of rest to Blink near Arthan’s Madness and store it inside her dimensional amulet. "It’s over you fools!" A burst of maniacal laughter erupted from her full lips as the doors of the room opened, letting her army of Carpenters return to aid their master. They had finished collecting her resources and were ready to join the fray. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮 "Fine! For once you are right." Manohar fell on the ground with a thud, using the last of his energy to stabilize his companions’ conditions. Then, the external barrier shattered. Dozens of Spellbreakers barged from every direction, turning the Carpenters who were unlucky or stupid enough to stand in their path into mincemeat "It is over." He said with a mad grin.