"Do you want to fight or do you prefer we just stare into each other’s eyes?" The Hippogriff asked, "I’m not staring at you. I’m making sure you don’t interfere with Lith’s fight." Solus replied, the Sage staff in one hand and the Fury in the other. "I don’t know if I can beat the crap out of you with all that Life Maelstrom you have, but I’m confident in my magic. "Make one move and I’ll throw one spell at your friend for each one I throw at you." "Smart." The Hippogriff grinned. "I was about to say the same but there’s a difference between you and me. I’m waiting not because I’m afraid of you but to use you against your friend. "You are my hostage, pretty lady. I’m biding my time for the perfect moment to strike. I wonder if Verhen will keep his cool when you are one step away from death." "Dream on, bird boy." Menadion rose from Solus’ shadow, shielding her daughter with her body. "Get one step closer and I’ll cave your head in. I’m already dead. Even if we trade blows, you are the only one who needs organs to survive." "A compelling argument, my lady." Shasa gulped hard. With the power of the contaminated potions and Life Maelstrom, he was confident in winning against Solus, but only because he believed himself to be physically superior. Even under such a wrong assumption, he knew that things might get ugly fast if she used magic while the Demon kept him at bay. Meanwhile, Kugoh turned around while whipping with his tail in a wide arch for cover and unleashed two tier five Battle Mage spells. With air and earth magic sealed, there wasn’t much he could do, but neither could Lith. The Behemoth conjured the God of Water and God of Darkness spells he had mastered back at the Crystal Griffon Academy. Three spheres of water and three more of darkness now orbited around him while an armor of black ice overlapped with his Adamant armor. The mere vision of the black crystals irked Lith. It reminded him of Orpal’s black crystal armor and made him grit his teeth. The red and the black elemental crystals on the Voidwalker armor lit up, conjuring his tier five Battle Mage spell, Final Eclipse. Half of the spell formed a sphere of black fire that enveloped him while the other half condensed into a laser-like beam of darkness. The flaming sphere evaporated the incoming ice blades and countered the darkness bullets hidden inside them. The pillar of fire, instead, charged at Kugoh who condensed the six spheres into a three-layered darkness-infused ice shield. The Final Eclipse dug its way through over half of the shield before losing its power. "A nice spell, but it lacks versatility." The Behemoth recalled the ice blades and shields, conjuring the tier four War Mage spell, Ice Age, and tier five Mage Knight spell, Black Tide, at the same time. ’Fuck me sideways, this guy is good.’ Lith infused the Hands of Menadion with the fire and light elements, plunging the battle claws into the spells to neutralize them. ’By conjuring two spells of the elemental god series, he can conjure spells of every tier and specialization without spending mana at a moment’s notice. He’s restricted to those two elements, but his spells are all infused with willpower and have no casting time.’ "What in the gods’ names are those blades?" Kugoh said. No matter what spell he conjured or how creatively he used it, the Hands of Menadion dispersed its energy with a single slash of their battle claws. The Behemoth bolted forward with a flap of his wings while wrapping himself into the six elemental spheres. They formed a thick layer of black ice that spun at high speed, protecting him and adding piercing power to his charge. Lith Spirit Blinked behind Kugoh and unleashed his tier Five Spirit spell, Mana Storm. A hail of emerald bullets, each infused with willpower and carrying a cannonball’s destructive power, destroyed the ice construct and rained upon the Behemoth from every direction. The emerald swarm hit him so hard that it lifted Kugoh from the ground and kept him in mid-air. Kugoh roared his fury, reforming the six elemental spheres and turning them into a protective layer that allowed him to break through the siege. Life Maelstrom also multiplied the Behemoth’s magic tenfold, allowing the elemental god series’ spells to hold their ground against the much more powerful Spirit Magic. Lith cast the tier four Spirit Spell, Piercing Star, and the tier five Spirit Spell, Wheel of Fate, in an instant with the Mouth of Menadion. Yet the water element of the Behemoth’s conjured armor took the brunt of the impact while the darkness element halved the Spirit Spells’ destructive power. Kugoh withstood what was left of the three Spirit Spells through sheer willpower and the effects of the contaminated potions. If not for the multiple layers of enchanted armor he wore and the Life Maelstrom empowering his equipment, magic, and body, he would have been ripped to shreds. ’Cursed Spirit Magic!’ Kugoh thought. ’Somehow, he can neutralize all of my spells. Unless I move this fight to close quarters, I’m doomed!’ Life fusion healed his wounds and darkness fusion kept him from feeling pain but he could feel the weakness creeping in. With each blow the Behemoth suffered, his stamina drained a bit. With each spell he cast, his mana core emptied. The fight had lasted less than ten seconds but at the speed Lith and Kugoh moved it was more than enough to clash dozens of times. ’Either I defeat Verhen with my next move or I need an opportunity to use Invigoration.’ The Behemoth thought. ’Once my strength falls below a certain point, even the amplification effect of Life Maelstrom will become useless. Enjoy new stories from freewebnovel ’I can bridge the gap between Verhen and me and even surpass him solely when I’m at full power. I knew a bright violet core was stronger than a bright blue, but I never expected the difference would be so much!’ 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮 Kugoh roared as he charged forward, signaling Shasa to intervene in the fight before it was too late. The Hippogriff had not interfered until that moment not out of the goodness of his heart but to preserve his strength and cast any additional spell he might consider useful after studying Lith’s fighting style. The standoff with Solus had been a pleasant surprise that Shasa planned to repay in blood. ’First, I take care of the Verhen woman. If I can kill her quickly, Kugoh and I can join our forces and dispose of Verhen too.’ The Hippogriff thought. ’Even if I fail to kill her, I just need to corner her to make Verhen lose his focus. ’One second is enough for Kugoh to rip Verhen’s heart out. Either way, victory is ours.’ The ring on the left hand of the Hippogriff turned into a tower shield while another on his right hand shapeshifted into a spiked mace. Shasa charged with the shield forward to hide from Solus’ sight and moved it to the side at the last second before the impact to perform a lightning-fast lunge to her head.