Chapter 3262 Clockwork (Part 1) 'I must engrave every moment of this fight in my body and mana core.' The Master thought. 'This is a unique opportunity to overcome my limits and learn the secrets of Blade Spells that still evade me.' 'Ignite.' Lith dispelled his teammates' worries with a simple command. Dread Flames set the wild aura seeping out of the weapons ablaze, shrouding them in violent bursts of silvery fire. The Dread Flames fed upon the excess mana and relieved the pressure the Blade Spells exerted on the power cores. Not a single iota of energy was lost as the silvery flames and Ruin merged into one. Lith checked the readings of the Eyes of Menadion one last time before swinging Ragnar?k. He had no mind link with the Apprentice Eyes and needed time to study the information they provided. Seven heads each with seven eyes made it easier for him to read through the data quickly and assimilate it even quicker. He used the bond formed by the When All Are One array with his allies and the one via the black chains with his Demons to show them where to strike. The Eyes of Menadion had spotted and marked the keystone runes that held together the various arrays in front of Lith. The Ears followed the shifting currents of the world energy and allowed him to find the path of least resistance. By riding the right currents, the Blade spells would bypass most of the defensive arrays and reach their target with minimal loss of their power. The Mouth and the Hands were still sealed so Lith could only use them to prepare a new batch of spells and provide his allies with a constant flow of world energy untainted by the Yggdrasill's will to fuel their bloodline abilities. 'Now!' A vertical swing of Ragnar?k unleashed a blazing pillar of silver energy that was quickly followed by four more. Each pillar moved as fast as a laser and released small blades of fire as they cut through the air. Half of the Demons of Darkness took flight, grabbing the fire blades. Their energy bodies fed the silvery flames and were fed by them in return. The Demons of Darkness became Demons of the Abyss made of Dread Flames. It enhanced their power and speed at the cost of their longevity as the silver flames burned through the Demons' energy reserves. 'Where does that come from?' Even in their agonizing state, the World Tree couldn't miss the five blazing Ruins aimed at their trunk. Yet the five Blade Spells dodged the opposing waves of world energy filled with the Yggdrasill's will and changed their trajectory before the arrays could manifest their powers. They switched their focus on the magical formations on the path of the Blade Spells, creating a series of barriers that would intercept and neutralize Ruin just like it had happened earlier when Dawn had cast Sunrise. Yet the five Blade Spells dodged the opposing waves of world energy filled with the Yggdrasill's will and changed their trajectory before the arrays could manifest their powers. To make matters worse, the Demons followed in the Blade Spells's wake and were protected by three Murders of mystical crows. The energy constructs surrounded the Demons of the Abyss, taking damage in their stead or throwing themselves into the fire to fuel the Demons' power. Paax's Magus level spell countered elemental magic and could infuse mana and vitality into its targets. On top of that, as long as the Murder arrays had a stable source of energy, they condensed more elemental crows to replace those that had been consumed. "For victory!" The first line of Demons reached the keystone runes of the closest defensive arrays, using Balkor's self-destruction spell and the hive mind formed by the black chains to blow themselves up at the same time. The network of still-functioning magical formations redirected the world energy it drew from the Fringe to contain the explosions and hasten the repairs but to no avail. The coordinated attack of the Demons had affected too many arrays and Balkor's spell converted the mana and life force stored in their bodies into a devastating blow. The keystone runes crumbled while waves of silvery flames spread along the magic circles holding the arrays together, forcing the Yggdrasill to consume the regenerative energy just to keep them from crumbling. "For conquest!" The second line of Demons cut deeper into the World Tree's territory, detonating once again and clearing the path in front of Lith's group from the most dangerous magical formations. "For Solus!" Paax and the third line of Demons exploited the sacrifice of their comrades to reach the elven villages nested all around the Yggdrasill before triggering the self-destruction spell. 'No!' The World Tree cursed, raising a wall of vines several meters thick right in front of the Blade Spells. 'My libraries! The knowledge and history accumulated by my predecessors! All lost!' "No, no, no!" Librarians and common elves turned their backs on the fight, incapable of focusing on the invaders anymore. Half of them abandoned the battle formation and ran toward their burning villages while the other half just stared at the scene, refusing to believe their own eyes. The Chroniclers kept following the Yggdrasill's orders but their focus was scattered. The sudden loss of so many elven lives and centuries of painstaking work was too much to bear. "That's our signal. Advance!" Until the keystone runes regenerated, World Tree's array network was just a light show. It took the Fire Dragons a single breath of Primordial Flames to carve a second path for themselves and cleanse the surrounding world energy from the Tree's energy signature. The Dark Phoenixes turned their bodies into invulnerable black flames, eating at the few still-working arrays with a mix of darkness magic and Origin Flames. The Eldritches took point in the charge, their powers no longer restricted by the elemental sealing arrays. Tezka unleashed his own Blade Tier spell, Cosmic Devourer. It drained half of the energy stored inside his core and equipment but since he couldn't step away from Chaos Dimension and Suneater constantly filled him with new power, he had no reason to hold back. Bytra rode in the wake of Cosmic Devourer, stirring the air element in the Fringe to conjure thunderclouds and fuel her electromagnetic powers. Theseus wasn't as fast, but with each wave of his hands, his art took life. Chaos energy took the shape of tendrils, birds, and nightmare monsters whose touch consumed everything. Nandi stood on the shoulders of the colossal Bastet, using his pata to sever the arrays' nodes and his bio-crystals to wrestle control of the world energy from the Tree as the Eldritches advanced. Zoreth covered her allies from the sky, breathing Origin Flames at anyone and anything that tried to approach them. Her Adamant claw Sky Piercer fended off the Wood Golem while the Eldritches rejoined the white cores. Abthot used her vines to feed the wounded Griffons and weakened Liches with nutrients and vitality. Even with their phylacteries stored inside Baba Yaga's tower, it would take the undead time to recover without preying on something. To not slow down the advance, Abthot sacrificed parts of herself to bring the army of Liches back to its full force whenever it was necessary. All the Eldritches released a volley of Chaos Spells conjured by the Maws of Bytra as they advanced.