Chapter 3177 Expendable Pawn (Part 1) 3177 Expendable Pawn (Part 1) 'Get in and help me, my friend.' Solus hated pretending to care about Vamir but as her life support system, he was vital to her plan. She threw him in the safety of the Engine while she kept fighting with the combined prowess of the full Menadion Set. 'I will!' Vamir was moved by her kindness and willingness to sacrifice herself for him. 'Together we will break this tyrant's back.' After dozens of mind fusions, the Librarian believed that the World Tree had taken him prisoner with a trap and tortured him for days until Solus had come to his rescue. Due to his millennia of age and deep love for his wife, Ellila, Solus had failed to make him fall in love with her. Yet she had no need for that. Vamir still remembered how awkward her first encounter with Solus had been. He was deeply ashamed for having tried to crush her under his fangs. Of doubting her goodwill and leaving her alone while he went to call for Selia. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎 Despite his poor treatment, Solus had always had a warm smile for him. She had always been there for him while Vamir treated Tista's illness. Solus had become Selia's first true friend after years of isolation to protect his baby. 'Also, even though I'm a married man, I have to admit that her breasts look and feel amazing.' The Librarian thought, his own memories indistinguishable from Lith's and Protector's after being hammered in his head over and over again. 'Dammit, Lith!' Solus blushed in embarrassment, knowing that she actually had no one to blame but herself. She had highlighted her feminine charms during the mind fusion and used her most embarrassing interactions with Lith and his dirty mind to paint a few lewd scenarios as true. The only silver lining in that mess was that she didn't plan on letting Vamir live long enough to tell the tale nor did she have the time to worry about it. The Chroniclers unleashed one tier five Spirit Spell each that the Eyes analyzed and the Mouth countered. Solus lacked the mana necessary to beat them with raw power but the Ears read the flow of the runes and together with the Eyes, the artifact allowed her to find the critical focal points of the incoming spells and disrupt them. By then, the Mouth had already finished conjuring the most suitable counterspells and aimed them with pinpoint precision. Whatever was left of the enemy attacks was quickly neutralized by the Hands. The blades emerging from its combat gauntlet form channeled all seven elements, using them to stop incoming attacks, spells, and even enchantments. Their length made up for the stumpy range of the Fury and turned every block into a counter. The Chroniclers' Yggdrasill weapons were harder than the Hands, yet, but Solus' mass made up for it. On top of that, with every clash, the Hands would temporarily short-circuit the power cores of the elven equipment. Solus fought as hard and dirty as Lith would, using the full Menadion Set to threaten the World Tree's domain over the Fringe. 'I don't think I can hold out much longer, dammit!' At a wave of Solus' hand, the Firing Range released a volley of Final Eclipses that was instantly overpowered by seven pillars of elemental energy. The Tree had managed to cut off the infected parts of his body and regain their focus. The Yggdrasill had a bright violet core like the Chroniclers, but their colossal size and expertise made a huge difference. Especially because Solus and the tower were inside the Tree. The Fae's spells and those of their Chroniclers wouldn't hurt each other so they could go all out. Like they had just done by firing a full-powered Silverwing's Annihilation at her. Solus escaped the destruction of her physical body thanks to the Heart surrounding her with a Silverwing's Bastion. The Heart of the tower stored fewer spells than the Mouth yet, but they could be instantly cast as if they were enchantments. 'Shit, that was close.' She thought. 'I'm not stupid, Elphyn. I've researched cursed objects before this meeting. I know people like you and Dawn can sacrifice your host to survive any attack. You were foolish to think that overpowering Vamir would play in your favor.' The Tree said. 'He's expendable and as long as he's alive, I have no reason to hold back!' 'Did you hear that, Vamir?' Solus used a mind fusion to both reinforce her hold on the Librarian and share the Tree's latest threat. 'I knew I couldn't trust her! Solus, we must escape and go back to Elysia- I mean, Ellila.' 'You bet.' Solus nodded, sighing in relief as the elf's mental defenses crumbled for good, turning Vamir into her puppet. He started to chant the best spells he had learned throughout the centuries in the World Tree's archives and sent them to Solus after amplifying them through the Master Mirror of the tower. 'I'm neither a man nor a woman, you damn mammals! I'm a tree!' The Yggdrasill roared. 'Correction, you are a whiny bitch!' The combined power of Solus and Vamir reached the violet core and she now had the equivalent of tetra casting even while she fought. Vamir used true and fake magic plus body casting while Solus had the Mouth to help her. In its unlocked form, the Mouth of Menadion wasn't restricted to memorizing three spells and holding one extra enchantment anymore. The artifact had access to every single spell stored inside the Library and could change its enchantment at will thanks to the Workshop and the Factory. As long as Solus was within the range of the tower, the Mouth was its own mage and with the Hands fueling it, the spells cost Solus no mana. 'Mom was a damn genius!' Solus dodged, attacked, and counter-attacked in an endless stream of seamless movements. 'Now I understand the meaning of every piece of the set. 'They are powerful on their own and unstoppable when combined.' The Ears read the flow of mana of spells and attacks while the Anvil interpreted that information and moved Solus' body to avoid them. Solus' mind was filled with Lith's battle tactic and experience but her body lacked the reflexes necessary to put them into practice. The Anvil, however, had no such problem. It used the data stored in the Eyes, Solus' memories, and the input from the Ears to execute the most efficient defensive manoeuvres. The Fury was akin to an infinite stream of tier five spells. Every time Solus threw the hammer, it split into nine copies of identical power. The magical gemstones on its head allowed her to change the effect of each hammer based on the circumstances while the Davross made them indestructible. She only had to wait until the Fury came back to her hand to unleash nine more attacks and during that couple of seconds, she still had the Hands. The blades allowed her to safely block any attack while the clawed gauntlets gave her an edge whenever an enemy came too close. Without the synergy of the pieces of Menadion Set Solus would have never lasted long enough for the Prime Engine to charge up the arm cannon.