Chapter 3293 Desperate Gamble (Part 2) I never got to practice Dread Flames because they take an immense toll on my life force.' Lith said. I was planning on doing it with Valtak's help, but there was an... accident that forced him to rest.' 'After Kami rescued me and my life forces merged to perfection, controlling the Dread Flames is easier but that was just two days ago and I spent most of them planning this gods-damned raid. I knew how to release and control one burst of Dread Flames, but I never attempted seven of them at the same time. It was a dangerous gamble but there was no other choice and it paid off.' He pointed at Solus' incoming light. There was nothing the World Tree could do to stop her and they knew it. I have lost all my Chroniclers, many of my libraries have been burned down by Verhen's Demons, and I've drawn the animosity of most of Leegaain's Brood. I haven't sacrificed so much and suffered like a dog just to lose everything." The Yggdrasill was backed into a corner. With Solus getting close to Lith and his Golems losing ground to the Wyrms due to the Tree's lack of focus the situation had gotten desperate. 'I hate gambling because fate is a fickle mistress, but at least this way I still have a chance at victory!" There were only three eight-man units of Golems near the World Tree's trunk and many of the constructs were down. The burning pieces of their bodies were scattered on the ground, incapable of regenerating themselves until the World Tree managed to smother the Dread Flames consuming them. Yet there were still enough Golems to cast a Silverwing's Annihilation and aim it at Ghar'mar. 'Please, like I didn't see this happen from a kilometer away!" Solus conjured the Bastion she kept at the ready, shielding the elf. Then, a second Annihilation came from across the battlefield from a rear unit. The other seven Golems were distant and attacking meant leaving themselves open to a counterattack, but the Yggdrasill was willing to risk it. 'Mage tower here, baby!' Solus grunted, conjuring the second Bastion she had prepared. Controlling two anti-Guardian spells at the same time while bonded to a bright blue-cored host took a toll on Solus, but with the Heart floor's and Spare Parts' help, she managed. Char'mar's mana was depleted so fast that she lost control of her flight spell, tumbling on the ground for a couple of seconds before the tower restored enough of her strength to take off again. 'Warn me the next time you pull a stunt like that! I almost broke my neck in the fall!" 'How was I supposed to know I'd need to conjure-Shit!' Solus used the data she received from the Ears to partially overlap the two Bastions by harmonizing their mana flows. The affected area surpassed the hardness of a single Bastion and made up for the Librarian's bright blue core. Yet it wasn't enough to stop the third Annihilation that the World Tree conjured on their own from the runes of the shattered arrays. Tower Tier spells consumed a lot of energy and anti-Guardians spells required over three times as much. It was the reason the Yggdrasill had not used them until that moment. The World Tree had accumulated enormous amounts of mana through centuries of preparations and stored it in the form of arrays, but if used recklessly, even that much mana would run out sooner rather than later. When that happened, the Yggrasill would no longer have a might on par with a Guardian. Not without the full control over the world energy of the Fringe and no array network to enact their will. At that point, the World Tree would be reduced to a very big, very sturdy tree with droves of fanatical followers and a penchant for knowledge. The battle with the Dragons was far from won and the Suncater now led the charge which was all more the reason to risk it.. The combined strength of the Annihilations struck Solus' Bastions, breaking through her defenses almost instantly. It still bought Ripha enough time to put herself in front of the incoming onslaught and unleash all of her spells and hammers. The Furies broke and the mana of the First Ruler of the Flames was overpowered, buying Solus but a fraction of a second. Menadion consumed her own body, detonating most of the power Lith had granted her with Balkor's spell to shield her daughter. 'If I use it all, I'll be forced to move on and even if Epphy survives I won't be able to help her. I'll keep just enough to revive myself.' She thought. The self-destruction spell compressed her life force and mana to the extreme but the explosion never happened. Ripha's figure was swallowed by the Annihilations and her last-ditch effort snuffed out like a candle on a birthday cake. As the Menadion Set reformed inside the tower, it took Solus a split second to realize what was going to happen. The combined strength of the anti-Guardian spells was going to kill Ghar'mar and then Solus would be next. Three Annihilations were powerful enough to destroy the tower and without a host to protect her, Solus would be either killed by the conflagration or imprinted by one of the Tree's roots. She had the Prime Engine emerge from the ground and wrap itself around the Librarian. The anti-Guardian spells struck while she was still closing the Engine's arms around Ghar'mar. The tower's combat form was cut in half, everything from its chest to the hips turned into debris. Solus activated all the barriers and arrays she could muster, compressing the Engine into a dense sphere around Ghar'mar to focus her defenses to the extreme. As the Prime Engine was torn apart and its fragments ground to dust by the prismatic pillars of mana so did Solus' body. The agony she suffered eclipsed everything she had endured until that day, but at least her host was safe. True to her name, Spare Parts unwillingly exchanged her life for Solus. When the damage Solus received exceeded what the tower could repair, the artifact burned and consumed the elf's life force to buy itself a second wind. A bright blue core wasn't enough to rebuild the tower from scratch but by sacrificing the host the tower kept Solus alive. The tower used its lifeless fragments to fend off the Annihilations and focused all the energy drawn from the host into the smallest fragment that could contain Solus' essence. A small, weathered stone full of cracks no different from the one Lith had found in the Trawn woods sixteen years ago except for its size. Back then Solus was barely alive so a pebble could do. Now the tower had to preserve her human body and memories, requiring a fragment as big as a hunting cabin but still a particle of dust compared to the surrounding storm of mana. 'We have to get away!'Vastor stared in horror at the incoming blast. I'm sorry, Lith but Solus is dead. There is no point in joining her.' Lith had created a straight path for Solus to reach him and the World Tree had exploited it to get rid of them both in one fell swoop.