Chapter 1245 - Bets and Arsenals (Part 1) "I don’t care what’s happening to the Light Torch, send the elite squads to the tower, now!" Ykrah said in his communication amulet as soon as he noticed that Solus was back to her peak condition. Thanks to the cover that Final Sunset had provided her, Solus had managed to use Invigoration without Ykrah’s Life Vision noticing. Thanks to the Forbidden Sun, she could use the breathing technique to its fullest and even exploit her tower half to repair and enhance her equipment. ’I don’t get it. A spell of that caliber should have finished her off along with my subjects. Yet no one died.’ Ykrah thought while Solus charged at him. Lith descended among the injured Kolgans that were still regenerating, grabbing one of them with each of his hands and wings. His touch was delicate, yet they all started to scream as their shadows came to life and devoured them. Ykrah couldn’t believe his eyes when the energy released from the dead bodies bolted to the skies instead of being reabsorbed by the Forbidden Sun. Those deaths had escaped the cycle of the ritual, making everyone weaker instead of strengthening them. The people around Lith froze in awe and terror as well, something that in battle could only be classified as a terrible mistake. While Ykrah was still trying to make heads or tails of the Wyrmling’s abilities, Solus was already upon him. He tried to unleash a spell, but her kick was faster. She struck at his torso with all of her strength, sending him to crash against the tower. Solus had gained enough dominance over the mana geyser that not even the energy field enveloping Ykrah could fully protect him anymore. He managed to remain conscious thanks to darkness fusion, but he needed to wait until his punctured lungs healed before being able to ask: "Who the heck is that?" "My Abomination." Solus released her tier four Light Mastery spell, Diamond Cutter. It generated a hard-light construct shaped like a drill that incorporated the hardest minerals in the ground to combine the speed of a light beam with the destructive power of the earth element. Ykrah managed to dodge it in the nick of time, just like Solus wanted. Diamond Cutter struck at the tower behind him and even though it failed to deal any apparent damage, it compromised the flow of energy that went from the geyser to the white crystal on top of the tower. Thanks to the stability of the earth element, the construct cost little mana to be kept active and was easily repaired. "Stalling for time is a game that two can play now, jackass." Solus said. Ykrah swallowed a lump of saliva as he could feel the power balance escape from his grasp. Somehow, Elphyn was not only unaffected by the Forbidden Sun, but she also slowly wrestled the power of the mana geyser away from the Hands. In the past, armies of Awakened had tried and failed to bring the tower down because the Forbidden Sun, the Eye of Kolga, and the Hands of Menadion synergized with each other. From that close, even a Lich’s phylactery holding a violet core would be unable to exert half of its true strength and the Hands always surrounded the entire tower with an energy field capable of deflecting Nova tier spells. On top of that, the white crystal between them worked as a stabilizer, keeping the Forbidden Magic in check while also spreading the world energy through the tower with minimal effort from its master. Now, however, the Sun had no effect, the Hands lost power by the minute, and the moment the tower cracked under the effects of Diamond Cutter, the Eye of Kolga would lose its effects, making the Forbidden Magic go awry. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢 Meanwhile, Tyris had reached the Jiera continent. Even though her Griffon form could fly at a speed above Mach 10, crossing 2 continents and one ocean would still take her almost an hour. Not even a Guardian could open a Warp Steps at such distance, not without the help of another of their kind. Both Roghar the Fenrir and Zagran the Garuda had no interest in assisting her invasion of Fenagar’s turf but no reason to stop her either. Together with Leegaain and Salaark, they just watched the golden feathered Griffon move toward the sky at such a speed that friction turned the air around Tyris into a sea of flames. She moved higher and higher until she escaped Mogar’s gravitational pull and became able to use the planet’s rotational speed to her advantage. Tyris stared upon the blue planet for a split second before diving down and exploit gravity to gain even more speed. Oceans and continents were supposed to be fixed, yet she could swear to have seen the waters between Jiera and Garlen curl up into a smile for a split second. Tyris ignored the phenomenon as Fenagar’s words echoed in her mind, rekindling her fury. The living comet found the Leviathan waiting for her several miles off the coast, in the middle of nowhere. Fenagar lay in-between two colossal tidal waves that parted the ocean in two halves, leaving the seabed exposed. He didn’t have the time to prepare a decent plan, but choosing the location of the fight gave him the advantage to move to a place where he could use his best elements, water and earth to their fullest. "When two Guardians fight, maps get rewritten." The Leviathan’s body was covered in pearly white scales that lit the night as if a second moon had appeared. "I’m not going to let you ruin my turf nor to give my people and harder time than they already have." "Don’t play hero with me, Fenagar. You don’t give a damn about your people. You chose this place only to put me on the back foot from the start." Tyris descended amid the tidal waves, her eyes flashing like lightning and her voice echoing like thunder. "This is your last chance to go away. Messing with my turf is a serious violation of the treaties between Guardians." Fenagar said. Their presence in the same place was enough to cause shockwaves that made the ocean and the ground tremble. "A violation that you committed for centuries at MY expenses! Enough talk, I’ve let you buy enough time for your tricks already." Tyris charged forward as her body turned its mass into pure energy. The Living Lighting form wasn’t something that only Rocs could do, just one of their foremother’s abilities that even the Griffon Bloodline didn’t inherit. "Oh, shit!" Fenagar said as her charge disrupted the flow of world energy, ruining the arrays he was setting up and damaging those he had laid while waiting for Tyris’s arrival. Bolts of lightning moved from the Griffon’s body to the nearby water walls and back, creating a corona effect that messed up the magical formations and left Fenagar no way out but back. The other Guardians looked at the fight with awe, admiration, and a good supply of their favorite salty snacks to go with the cold beer already in their paws. A good show was a rare treat and a pleasant break from their duty. "I bet on Tyris." Leegaain said. "Fenagar didn’t have enough time to prepare and he leaves his lab less often than I do."