Chapter 3292 Desperate Gamble (Part 1) Even without the corruption left by the Bleed, the tower had full access to the world energy of the Fringe. It empowered not only the elf, but also the Menadion Set Ripha wore. The First Ruler of the Flames didn't have to worry about putting strain on Solus' life force anymore and could push the various pieces of the set to the limits of their current form. Menadion activated the Furies' Flight ability of her hammers, clearing Spare Parts' flying path from the deep violet-cored elves. She used the Mouth to cast spells non-stop and the Hands to fuel them, drawing attention away from the escaping Librarian. 'I can't manifest the Prime Engine without revealing the tower's existence. Solus inwardly cursed. Yet don't worry, Ghar'mar, I'm right by your side every step of the way.' Powerful space-compressing arrays encompassed the area near the World Tree and kept Solus from Tower Warping. She could only dig her way through the ground with earth magic and keep the tower as close as possible to the elf. Their lives were intertwined and what happened to one of them would reflect upon the other. The silver lining of that situation was that, thanks to the corruption spread by the Bleed, at close range the tower exerted absolute control over the world energy. It made Solus and Spare Parts akin to dimensional mages and allowed them to manipulate the flow of Mogar's breath to their advantage just as the World Tree had done until a few seconds ago. 'Step one!' Solus activated the defensive protocols of the tower to conjure the Anvil of Menadion around the Librarian's body. The enchanted stone armor fused with Spare Parts' equipment, boosting her physical abilities and further increasing her speed. 'Step two!" From below the ground, the tower kept growing in size and turning into its battle form. 'What about step three? The elf asked, feeling the Prime Engine moving just a few meters below her, humming with power. "That's for when we get out of the space-compressing array. Solus replied. 'Keep moving and help me weave a few spells.' At the same time, Ripha covered their backs, fighting like a god of war. She now had a body superior to the one she had in life and bloodline abilities that complemented it to perfection. On top of that, with the Master Set fueled by the tower, she could tap into its true potential. Thanks to the Ears, Menadion perceived every attack and spell before they even started. Awakened and true mages relied on fusion magic while fighting, generating a mana flow through their bodies that the Ears could track. Ripha dodged physical attacks with minimal movements and Dominated the enemies' spells, turning them against each other. The artifact made it easy for her to find the focus points of mana and willpower even amid the chaos of battle. The attention of the World Tree was too scattered all over the Fringe to resist Ripha's influence. Turning the Chroniclers into Puppets ensured their obedience but it also left the Yggdrasill to control his now-mindless drones one by one. Menadion, instead, could focus on the most powerful spells of the bunch and imbue them with the extra mana coming from the Hands. In its unsealed form, the Mouth kept. active the runes of the spells it stored once they were cast. When weaving new spells, Ripha used those runes to shorten her cast time by half. She harried Golems and elves ahead of Solus' path, drawing attention to herself and punishing those who dared ignore the Ruler of the Flames with a Davross hammer to the head. 'Don't fall for Menadion's provocations! The World Tree's order resounded inside the Awakened elves' minds. 'She's just a diversion. Stop the traitor Ghar'mar Riverflow at all costs!' Lith and Solus closed the distance separating them by the second, with the Tiamat's group nearing the space-compressing array and the Librarian attempting to escape its boundaries. 'We are running out of mana!' Tessa warned the others. Even with one of her extra heads constantly using Invigoration, Chaos Annihilation consumed a lot of energy. Keeping it active for more than one instant cost several times more due to the stress the anti-Guardian spell put on its caster's body. 'Once we lose the Annihilations' protection, the World Tree is going to beat us to a pulp again and we can't hope for another miracle rescue. We need a plan, and fast!' 'I have a plan.' Lith threw caution to the wind and drew a deep breath as the others followed his lead. Just do as I do and ask no questions.' Feathered wings bloomed from everyone's back, drawing in the world energy with astounding speed. The colored feathers split the world energy into its single components and turned them into their corresponding Cursed Element. Then, they reassembled the six Cursed Elements together and added a spark of the Tiamat's life force, generating Dread Flames. 'I really didn't want to share this, especially with Vastor, but at this point, I have no choice left. Lith thought in a corner of his mind to ensure that no one would hear it. "This... This is perfection! The Master had no such care. He experienced with his body, with his very life force and mana core how the perfect. balance between Cursed Elements was supposed to feel. How life and death could harmonize with each other and coexist peacefully. Not just Chaos and Decay, but also Zero, Cinder, Corruption, and Choke. They didn't fight over Lith's life force, quite the contrary. They protected it. The spark of life force was what allowed them to interact with each other without returning to their natural state. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚 'Not quite.' Lith replied. 'Clench your teeth. This is going to hurt.' The five people under the When All Are One array had seven heads each and all of them hurled a jet stream of Dread Flames. Thirty-five laser-like silvery comets streaked through the air, destroying everything in their path. One hit was enough to blast a Wood Golem into splinters and short-circuit its enchantments, preventing it from regenerating. While the blue flames craved wanton destruction and aimed to spread from one victim to another, Dread Flames moved with purpose and struck like a surgical tool. They would focus on their target and unleash their power until there was nothing left. The blazing silvery comets pierced through the incoming volley of Tower Tier spells, knocked down Golems, and disrupted the elven magical formations, opening a path out of the Yggdrasill's array field for Solus. 'What an amazing power! Why didn't we use your Dread Flames sooner?' Orion suddenly fell on his knees, coughing his lungs out. He felt like his whole body had been cut to pieces and sewn back together with a rusty needle by a drunken tailor. If Orion and Vastor weren't standing on Lith's shoulder, they would have stumbled and curled on the ground in fetal position. Tessa and Fyrwal fared no better, forcing the Tiamat to lift them from their waists and carry them like luggage. 'Is that enough as an answer?' Lith replied, managing to endure the pain and push forward only thanks to the power of the Apprentice Menadion Set.