Jung Lee dashed in again.
The Xelur was enraged, lashing out at Jung Lee, this ant that had dared to attack him.
Jung Lee seemed almost serene in that moment, as if he wasn’t caught up within a battle. His attacks were quick, precise, and powerful. The Grand Demon Lord finished healing his leg but his attacks increased in power. Even as he took on more wounds, none of them were life threatening as he would turn his body to alter the path of Jung Lee’s blade at the last moment.
Now Jung Lee and the Xelur Grand Demon Lord were on par for strength and viciousness.
Deia’s blade clashed with the broad axe of her opponent; she took a few steps back but her blade left a deep cut in the axe head. With a series of explosions, she darted to the side and then past the Xelur at great speed. Her sword lashed out, impacting the Xelur’s protective soul energy.
The Xelur didn’t have time to react to the attack physically but his protective soul energy surged, rebuffing Deia’s attack. The Xelur had a look of shock on their face as they realized how much soul energy they had burned through in order to stop Deia’s attack from connecting with their head. A look of seriousness passed over their face as they attacked. Their attacks were tighter and faster, with a speed that was at odds with their size.
Deia used her explosion movement technique to get out of the range of the Xelur Grand Demon Lord’s attacks and dish out a few of her own from range.
Soul-burning black flames rushed from her hands, sticking to the Grand Demon Lord. With a cold look on her face, Deia rushed back in as the Grand Demon Lord fought to try to extinguish the flames that were slowly but steadily eating through his soul energy protection.
Deia’s attacks left them no more time to care about the black flames. Her twin swords lashed out again and again. The speed of her attacks and the threat of the black flames that grew up each of her blades made the Grand Demon Lord retreat, a hint of fear in their eyes.
The five dragons that Deia had pulled into her body in order to utilize that Fire Mana now reappeared—no longer red, but black. They looked at the Grand Demon Lord with hungry eyes before rushing around Deia.
There were too many of them for the Grand Demon Lord to block as the dragons attacked from every angle, covering him in angry black soul energy-consuming flames.
As normal flames need fuel like wood to burn and a supply of oxygen to combust while producing carbon dioxide, Deia’s flames needed Fire Mana to combust, with soul energy as their fuel and the product being wild Mana.
As the Xelur Grand Demon Lord’s protective soul energy was being converted by these flames, the wild Mana shot off in different directions. As it interacted with Mana or physical objects, it could be assimilated or it could have a reaction. The Xelur Grand Demon Lord, filled with soul energy that was trying to rebuff the Mana attack, had a bad reaction with it, causing small explosions all around them. As their soul energy protection continued to get weaker and weaker, the Xelur Grand Demon Lord looked at the woman covered in blue armor with her swords covered in black flames fear and a sense of despair filling them.
They had never heard of something that could consume soul energy with such destructive and rapid effects that left them feeling scared to the point of panic.
***
“Well, looks like I’m holey now!” Steve sounded rather displeased as he picked himself up, his body recovering from the hit that had not only torn a hole through him but disrupted his inner workings.
He could only lean his big body against a rock and focus the energy within his body to fix the various runic lines and coding that had been destroyed or corrupted by the clan leader’s attack. He looked to the rest of Party Zero, who were caught up in a heated clash with the Grand Demon Lords that the clan leader had sent out.
They moved faster than someone under the Level 100 would be able to possibly follow. For them, they would merely see moving shadows and the clash of blades. Steve saw everything: how Jung Lee was using his skill with the sword to fight on par with the Grand Demon Lord that was using all of his energy without care to increase his strength and speed.
Dave’s pins as well as Jekoni’s threads of blood darted in to open up the Grand Demon Lord to Jung Lee’s attacks.
Deia’s opponent was wreathed in black flames that continued to eat at their soul energy protection. If they were to lose that protection for even half a second, then those flames would make it inside the Grand Demon Lord’s body and start to consume the soul energy stored within their body. The results could be imagined.
Anna, in her Air titan form, fought the Grand Demon Lord in front of her. Both of them used every bit of their strength and skill to try to find a way to put the other at a disadvantage.
Anna might be at a lower level than Jung Lee but her knowledge over the Air Affinity was higher than the mages who lived on the Per’ush Islands. While Jung Lee had been held in the Six Affinities Temple for centuries, Anna had been fighting people and creatures all across Emerilia for centuries not counting before she’d gone into hibernation. Her fighting skills had reached a much higher level and her level of comprehension and her Air titan’s abilities allowed her to fight on par with the Grand Demon Lord.
Gurren and Lox were like rabid dogs in their attacks. They were fast and vicious. Their swords rushed outward and changed lengths, keeping the Grand Demon Lord off-balance. Their shields were like a metal wall, stopping all attacks and working to throw open the Grand Demon Lord’s defense.
Suzy’s six Affinity creations worked with them, suppressing the Grand Demon Lord that could only roar out in rage as numerous injuries covered their body and their clothes were in shreds with the continuous attacks. Already their strength was half of what it had been as they were unable to lash out with their full strength as Party Zero dominated them.
Steve’s gaze was drawn to the clan leader that was still moving his hands and chanting in a low voice, altering the totem in front of him. Its energy had already receded but it seemed as if it were being stored up inside.
Steve felt danger well up from deep within him. With a grunt, he flopped on his front and started to crawl toward the clan leader. “Making me scuff up my armor—you know how long it’s going to take to buff that out?” Steve muttered under his breath as he continued to pull himself along the outside of where the battle was happening, lest he be caught up in the powerful arcane and physical shock waves that were emitted with every blow inflicted by both sides.
“Getting too old for this shit.” Steve continued to mutter complaints as he dragged himself along.
There was a powerful roar from the side. Gurren and Lox’s opponent raised up his hand; a wave of soul energy threw them back as its power receded. It was as if it no longer had any soul energy but a cruel look flashed in its eyes as it moved like a streak of light, hitting Lox. Gurren’s blade was there; the Grand Demon Lord continued to hack at Gurren as Lox was pushed back a few steps before he recovered from the blow and rushed forward.
The Grand Demon Lord had used some trick to increase his speed by nearly two times; now Gurren and Lox were on the defense.
Suzy’s creations rushed in, once again pressuring the Grand Demon Lord.
Like a beast being annoyed by flies, the Grand Demon Lord lashed out in anger. Being swarmed, it took multiple attacks but they weren’t all that strong.
Steve’s analytical runes and his eyesight were sharp. “He took down his protective energy in order to attack with all of his speed. Each of those attacks might only be light compared to before, but without that layer of protection, they’re actually hitting the Xelur Demon Lord instead of just reducing its soul energy protection,” Steve said, his eyes not missing a thing.
“Use the draining runes!” Dave yelled out to Lox and Gurren. Gurren took a hit on his shield, using the momentum to retreat as his sword disappeared and a new one was summoned with different runes. Lox’s sword also changed as they lurched forward.
Dave had passed to them the coding that he
was using for his pins. With their armor, they simply needed to accept the coding and resummon their swords with it, and they would be carved with the different runes.
The Grand Demon Lord smashed Suzy’s creations away. They started to repair themselves as streams of Mana surged into their bodies. Their Endurance was high and their power was good but it couldn’t be compared to the power, strength, and abilities that Gurren and Lox could display.
The Grand Demon Lord’s eyes lit up as it looked at Suzy and rushed forward.
Lu Lu came out of nowhere and unleashed her most powerful lightning attack that created a stream of blinding light across everyone’s eyes.
Steve remained unaffected as he saw the lightning strike the Grand Demon Lord. He had dodged at the last moment, taking the hit on his shoulder and part of his neck instead of in his face. A burn appeared on his body as he shuddered; the lightning made half of his body convulse in shock and pain.
Gurren and Lox caught up with the stunned Grand Demon Lord. Lox’s sword was dodged but Gurren’s landed.
The Grand Demon Lord let out a cry of pain as blood and a multicolored stream of soul energy was ripped from the Grand Demon Lord, surging up Gurren’s sword and into his armor.
Steve laughed. The coding not only opened up the Grand Demon Lord and pulled their soul energy from them, it actually pulled it into Gurren and Lox’s bodies.
The creations also caught up, once again pinning the Grand Demon Lord as they clashed and focused on holding the Grand Demon Lord there as Gurren and Lox worked to deplete his strength.
The Grand Demon Lord focused on Lox and Gurren, but he was only one person. There was no way that he could stay vigilant of both their attacks the entire time. He yelled out in pain and again more wounds appeared on his body as Gurren and Lox clashed with the Grand Demon Lord, becoming more and more bold.
Two pins, creating silver lines, hit the Grand Demon Lord. Lox and Gurren, who had been both attacking, adjusted their attacks. Gurren’s sword stabbed the Grand Demon Lord in the back as Lox took a hit on his shield. A crater appeared under his feet; his sword darted out and stabbed into the Grand Demon Lord’s leg.
Lox rolled away, using the side of the crater to jump to the side as he summoned a new sword. Gurren left his sword in as well, not destroying the conjuration as the two swords were like holes in a dam.
Soul energy spewed forth from the Grand Demon Lord as he cried out in pain. Their Health points dropped quickly. It pulled out the swords; the energy stopped flowing from him at such a speed. The composed Demon Lord was now in a haggard state.
“Die!” Lox yelled out, charging forward. Gurren yelled out his war cry as once again they rushed in. The creations followed them.
The Grand Demon Lord yelled out in anger, punching themselves in the chest.
“Watch out!” Steve yelled.
Gurren and Lox retreated at Steve’s words. The air around the Grand Demon Lord seemed to be sucked in toward it before an explosion rippled outward.
Sections of the castle came down from the ceiling as Gurren and Lox were shot backward and smashed through walls of the castle. Sections of the ceiling came down; the fighters had to move and dodge to get away from the attacks.
Jung Lee forced his opponent backward under a large section of the roof that was caving in. They defended against the falling debris as Jung Lee rushed past, leaving a savage cut on the Grand Demon Lord’s stomach.
The Free Affinity spirits in his body rushed into the Grand Demon Lord. They separated, becoming six different spirits instead of the combined and balanced spirit that Jung Lee fought with.
The Grand Demon Lord yelled out as blood spewed from one side; on the other, he burned. Roots grew out of his leg; the other turned to rock and broke off. The Grand Demon Lord collapsed as the ravaging energies of the six Affinities tore his body apart from the inside.
With a flick of his hand, all of the six Affinity spirits jumped from the Grand Demon Lord’s body and shot toward Jung Lee, entering his body as he rushed toward Deia and the Grand Demon Lord that she was fighting. Gurren pulled himself out of the wall that he had broken through. His, armor broke down more of the wall as he got to his feet.
Steve let out a sigh of relief as Gurren raised his hand. Screens appeared in front of him as he moved through his notifications, increasing his power.
Raising one’s power in Emerilia had large drawbacks: they would increase in power, but if it was Vitality, Endurance, and Willpower, those respective attributes would increase but their points would only increase in regeneration—their bars wouldn’t just suddenly fill up.
However, when increasing Intelligence and Strength, the person would have a large increase but it would be more taxing on the person and it would be easier for them to fall into Mana and Stamina fatigue.
While Gurren’s power surged now, later he would need more time to get used to his abilities and he had a short time in which he could use this new strength without causing more issues to himself and increasing his recovery time.
Suzy’s creations rushed the Grand Demon Lord that Anna was fighting. Giving her an opening, her sword rushed forward. The Grand Demon Lord raised their scimitar just a few moments too late. Anna’s sword made of Air rushed ahead, pushing the Grand Demon Lord’s sword out and away. The blade of air cut through the Grand Demon Lord’s protective soul energy and pierced their chest.
The blade only went halfway through the Grand Demon Lord but the power released into the Grand Demon Lord made all of their power explode outward in every direction.
Anna’s sword of Air fell apart into ribbons. The Grand Demon Lord fell forward. Its knees thumped on the ground, making it shake from its weight as soul energy poured out from the wound in its chest. Its
Its weapon dropped from his hand onto the ground before they, too, toppled over sideways.
Jung Lee and Deia were able to fight the last Grand Demon Lord together. It condensed all of its soul energy into a dazzling armor over its body.
Anna rushed forward; all of Party Zero attacked the Grand Demon Lord. Pins and grenades rained down on it while the melee types came in from every direction, their attacks cutting that soul energy armor.
It hit a number of Suzy’s slower moving creations away, breaking them apart—only to have them recover themselves after a few minutes. Steve had a look of concern on his face as he looked at Suzy’s pale face. Using Summoner’s Bastille for so long and using so many of her most powerful creations took a heavy toll on her.
Steve continued crawling as he had, regaining some strength in his body as his body was restored rune by rune.
Party Zero were all low on Mana and they had used an incredible amount of Stamina to get to this stage. They tried to conserve their energy as much as possible as they whittled down the last Grand Demon Lord.
There was a black and blue flash as Deia threw her sword. It cut through the air with the sound of an explosion. It landed in the middle of the Grand Demon Lord’s back. Black flames from the sword grew rapidly on the inside of the Grand Demon Lord.
It bellowed out in pain but there was no mercy in the eyes of Party Zero as the soul energy within its body started to become wild Mana, speeding up the rate at which its body fell apart. The sword Deia had thrown at it was destroyed under the power of the wild Mana.
Dave threw out one of his conjuration rods. Deia caught it as it turned into a sword identical to the one she’d impaled the Grand Demon Lord with.
Party Zero was tired and hurting but they consumed their Stamina and Mana potions to recover what they had lost. They faced the clan leader. Around the shield array, a number of Xelur runes floated in the air, revolving around it and changing with every passing second.
The clan leader looked from the shield array. The power that rolled off from its body was as strong as three of the Xelur Grand Demon Lords that they had just fought.
None of Party Zero dared to look down on them.
With a roar of complete anger, the
Grand Demon Lord raised his hands.
Steve’s eyes went wide as he felt the soul energy that was focused in the palm of the clan leader’s hands. Soul energy was already ten times more powerful than Mana but this amount made Steve yell out in panic.
“Run!”
Even as he said it, he saw that it was too late.
Dave’s hands moved as orbs created a shield in front of Party Zero. From his hands, more orbs continued to fall from his wrists and charge forward.
A soul energy beam that turned the world into a stream of glowing violent colors shot out from the clan leader’s hands. A trench was dug in the ground as the castle shook with power with just the passing of the soul energy beam.
It hit the hastily erected orb shield, lasting for less than a second before it smashed through. Dave grunted as more orbs he’d thrown out created another shield; more and more orbs followed them, creating more shields to block the beam, breaking it.
Around the shield, the soul energy cut deep grooves into the ground and hit the already ruined castle.
It caused the remaining section of the castle to blow outward. This beam attack was ten or twenty times more powerful than Anna’s slashing attacks to gain entrance to this area underneath the tower.
The castle was blown open; the soul energy beam lost power a few hundred meters out as Dave’s shield broke it. The continuous stream of power, cutting deeper into the ground, increased the opening in the side of the castle and destroyed any of the debris that fell from the ceiling.
Shield after shield failed. Dave’s hands moved as spell formations appeared in front of him; more and more orbs came from his hands to create rows of shields that were destroyed under the power of this soul energy beam that was no less powerful than the ones that had been used to target the flying citadels.
The beam died away. Sections of the castle came down as the clan leader pulled a massive sword from his back.
Of Myths and Legends (Emerilia Book 9) Page 41
