Supreme Magus

Zolgrish ignored the pain from his skeletal limbs being constantly crushed and regenerated, focusing on the adamant forge.

ʼYozmogh and DannʼKah are too close to the amplifier for me to open the control panel and shut it down. DannʼKahʼs obstinacy to keep it open means they needed me to activate it. Their control over my essence must be poor.ʼ He thought.

ʼI donʼt get why Luigi wants me to shut down the lab, but since he is likely to die, I might as well grant his last wish.ʼ

The lich stomped his foot on the power line of the array fuelling the lab. Everything that didnʼt have his own pseudo core went dark.

ʼWeʼre back baby!ʼ Lith and Solus thought in unison as most of the interference from their surroundings disappeared, making Life Vision and mana sense useful again.

Lith had managed to survive up to that point only thanks to his multiple layered barrier. The wall of vines made up by the reverted ogres limited his movements and the trolls would strike at him with their enchanted tools whenever he tried to escape the encirclement.

Their staves emitted blue flames which reached thousands of degrees, capable of turning a man into charcoal with just one hit. Even when they missed, they made the air too hot to be breathable unless Lith cooled it down with water magic.

To make matters worse, up to that point Yozmogh had neutralized the spells Lith had conjured to defend himself with his wings. Not only did he almost cause Lithʼs death multiple times, but also all of his eyes were brimming with stored energy.

ʼIʼll deal with him later. First I need to get rid of the trolls.ʼ Lith thought as he Blinked right behind one of the reverted creatures. With Life Vision working again, the wall of vines no longer blocked his line of sight.

”Behind you.” Yozmogh warned them as the Ranger came out from his exit point. Lith had Solus keep an eye on him, he couldnʼt afford any distraction in the task at hand.

His arms moved like snakes, striking at each troll multiple times. The trolls laughed at his wasted efforts and unleashed new jets of blue flames. With their thick skin and powerful muscles, that kind of attacks didnʼt even tickle. On the contrary, they felt full of vigor.

Or so they thought before falling to their knees, writhing in agony.

Lithʼs hits were weak because he knew brute strength and normal magic were pointless. Normal trollsʼ regenerative abilities made them hard to kill, whereas those in front of him would resurrect in a matter of minutes.

Lith had to save his strength for and from Yozmogh. He couldnʼt afford the Balor stealing any more of his mana, so the strikes were merely a vessel, each one imbued with a light spell.

Healing magic was the trollsʼ bane, overloading their already too efficient metabolism that caused their perpetual hunger. Lithʼs spells had pushed them to the brink of starvation. Their massive bodies shrunk like each passing second was a day spent fasting.

”Impressive.” Yozmogh gave him a nod of approval.

”Letʼs see how you fight when even your eyes betray you.”

Yozmogh revealed that he was holding a small mirror in his left hand. He pointed it at the wall of living vines and then to himself, making them both disappear.

ʼThere was no dimensional door and I can still hear the ogre-dryads slithering on the floor. Is that invisibility?ʼ Lith asked.

ʼIt must be that mirrorʼs effect.ʼ Solus pondered.

ʼMy guess is that it uses gravity magic to bend the light. That must be how they hid themselves waiting for Zolgrish to activate the device.ʼ

ʼThanks for the explanation, but how does that help?ʼ

ʼIt doesnʼt. The field it creates is so fine that not even mana sense can pinpoint them. I can only give you an approximate location.ʼ Solus said as Lith felt a living wave crushing against him.

The vines coiled around his body, turning visible once again. They tried to dig their way through his skin and orifices.

ʼGross! They didnʼt even buy me a drink first.ʼ Lith activated his tier five spell, Setting Sun. It generated a globe made of darkness imbued flames around him that engulfed all of the dryads-ogres attacking him.

The two elements were fused together, allowing the dark energies to move at a speed that would otherwise be impossible. Setting Sun was a perfect offense and defense that would stay up until all of its mana was exhausted, but Lith didnʼt plan to use it for long.

ʼI thought you said that ogresʼ vines are resistant to fire. Wouldnʼt it have been better to use Ice Age, instead?ʼ Solus asked.

ʼThatʼs exactly why Iʼm using it. Just like with the trolls, I donʼt want to kill them, just to make them suffer. Otherwise theyʼll just pop up again in an endless loop.ʼ Lith explained.

The darkness magic quickly sapped the ogresʼ vitality, while the fire magic of Setting Sun inflicted them blinding pain but dealt little damage. The moment the vines writhed in agony off his body, Lith expanded the sphere of black flames outwards, revealing Yozmoghʼs position.

As the Balorʼs gravity sheath dissolved, Lith could see Yozmoghʼs red and black wings brimming with power. He was trying to rob Lith of his spell but to no avail.

Over the years, Lith had fought opponents more powerful than he was many times. It had almost cost him his life, but at the same time, the experiences had given him the opportunity to learn from them.

He had devised Setting Sun after fighting Nalear, while Thrud Griffon and Manohar had taught him how to defeat an opponent capable of draining his mana. Just like the vortex generated by Thrudʼs meat puppets, Yozmoghʼs wings couldnʼt affect a spell animated by its casterʼs willpower.

Lith had understood the nature of the reverted Balorʼs powers after he had literally stolen his thunder, but feigned ignorance to lull Yozmoghʼs conceit.

”Such a powerful spell and no chant. You must be an Awakened!” Surprise and joy appeared on his face despite the black flames withering his skin.

Lith had no time to waste bantering. He focused Setting Sun on his fingertips, making it rotate faster and faster, until he released it against the Balor in the form of a giant spinning thorn.

Meanwhile, the battle between Zolgrish and DannʼKah took an unexpected turn too.

”Hey, idiot. Do you know the origin of the term lich?” Zolgrish said. He grabbed one of the orc-elves who, in the heat of the battle, had fallen prey to the orcʼs natural bloodlust and come within armʼs reach.

A simple touch was all Zolgrish needed to leech the vitality of an opponent, but this time that wasnʼt his goal. The undead life force DannʼKah had shared with his lieutenant recognized its only true master and returned to him.

”Thanks for the meal.” Each reverted orc contained only a small portion of Zolgrishʼs power, but it was enough to tip the scale of the battle in his favor. The orc-elves attempted to escape, but the lich only needed one of the cantrips he kept at the ready to stop them.

Some even conjured world energy to commit suicide, yet it only backfired. They were closer to Zolgrish than to the amplifier, so the undead energy released upon their death ended up being siphoned by him.