Supreme Magus

Chapter 4393: Dawn of War (Part 3)

The trees near Abthot folded and rearranged themselves until they became perfect copies of the Eldritch-Ogre.

Their energy signature was also the same, and if not for the lack of equipment, it would have been impossible to tell which one was the original. It was the reason Abthot handed Balmung to two different clones and took off the armor as well.

By the time Dawn found and reached her mark, she was surrounded by eight Eldritches, each holding a Chaos Annihilation on their fingertips.

***

City of Batara, a few seconds ago.

Orulm ignored both his partner departing like a meteor and the Horseman chasing after her.

’Abthot can look after herself.’ The Breaker thought. ’I can’t afford to worry about her until I understand what madness this is. How can Dawn and her host have different bodies?

’How could she be so foolish that she offered me her back despite knowing who I am, and how in Mogar’s name can a mere human male withstand my blows like that? I may have the mass of a humanoid, but I’m an Eldritch-hybrid!

’The Chaos that empowers me gives me a strength that made white cores crumble under my bare fists, yet this pathetic mortal resisted Fellbane’s bite without flinching. I’m a novice with a spear, but according to Bytra, I should have punched a hole through a Dragon with that move.’

Orulm performed a series of quick lunges in outrage, but Acala blocked them with minimal movements, using the curved surface of his kite shield to push the spear away from his body without too much effort.

It was then that the veil of pride and anger lifted from Orulm’s eyes and he noticed one more oddity about his opponent.

’Wait a second. Why does this guy have a crystal shield and armor yet he carries the Twilight Blade? Could it be that I’m just facing some crystal clone of sorts? It would explain why he’s so confident in himself and why Dawn kept the Firstlight armor.

’He’s just a puppet she left behind to separate me from Abthot and take us out one at a time!’ The realization hit the Breaker like a slap, and made him forget about his wounded pride.

He focused the Skull’s full sensory range on Acala and released three tier four Chaos spells, Howling Void, from the Maw. Each one of them was as thick as a small tree and as fast as a bullet.

There was no way to dodge them from so up close, and if Acala Blinked, the Skull would reveal the exit point to Orulm, and he would end that charade with a single Chaos blast from Fellbane’s tip.

’Come on, sucker, take the bait.’ The Breaker inwardly smiled. ’I’m a dumb, old Eldritch with no Life Vision. You can use dimensional magic, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I swear.’

The traitorous Ranger stood his ground, charging his equipment with as much light element as he could muster. Acala’s shield shattered on impact, but it neutralized one Howling Void.

The Twilight Blade, instead, released light element to revert Chaos into darkness and channeled the water element to split Orulm’s mana from the world energy, cutting the two remaining spells asunder without suffering a scratch.

The Breaker was impressed by Acala’s cold blood and precise movements, but far from surprised.

’You used this same trick earlier, kid, and it’s nothing much once it loses the element of surprise.’ Orulm thought as he activated Fellbane’s enchantment, Piercing Spiral.

The Chaos energy flowing through the spear focused around the tip of the blade, forming a cone-shaped vortex. It extended Fellbane’s range, cleared the path for Fellbane’s thrust, and hid the spear’s movements from all kinds of senses.

The fog of Chaos made it impossible to understand if Fellbane was aimed at the same target as Piercing Spiral or somewhere else.

Acala didn’t have the time to raise his guard before the Chaos vortex struck. He pivoted on the balls of his front foot and turned his body to the side while also flooding the crystal armor with light element.

Piercing Spiral still came too close for comfort, shattering Acala’s protections and tearing his enchanted clothes to shreds. The tense expression on the traitorous Ranger’s face when Piercing Spiral exposed the white crystal on his chest disproved Orulm’s theory.

’This guy has the real body, so Abthot is fighting a clone. That was stupid of Dawn.’ The Breaker was confused, but he performed his next attack like clockwork.

He altered Fellbane’s trajectory by adjusting his grip on the haft, performing a feint aimed at Acala’s right eye before going for the white crystal.

’Even white cores can’t avert their gaze from something that threatens to blind them. It’s instinct, and this guy is no different.’ Orulm thought, and he was right.

Acala’s eyes never left the deadly spear tip, but not for the reason he expected. Fellbane’s movements slowed down for a fraction of a second when the Breaker changed its trajectory, and that was enough for the traitorous Ranger.

The left hand with which he had held the shield was still extended. He used it to grab the spear’s haft while it was centimeters away from his face and locked it in place.

”What?” It wasn’t the uncanny display of composure and lightning-fast reflexes that surprised the Skinwalker-Eldritch so much as the strength of Acala’s grip.

The hasty dodge had disrupted the Ranger’s stance, whereas Orulm’s feet were firmly planted in the ground like pillars. Yet no matter how much the Eldritch pushed and pulled, Fellbane didn’t budge.

Acala remained silent, his face a mask of focus. He pulled the spear as he lunged with the Twilight Blade at Orulm’s chest, forcing him to either abandon his weapon or suffer a perfect cross counter.

The Eldritch failed to resist, feeling like a child facing an adult in an arm-wrestling contest. To make matters worse, Acala channeled the darkness element inside the Davross of his weapon.

The Twilight Blade became a blurred mass of shadows capable of phasing through any physical protection and delivering its deadly kiss right into its mark’s flesh.

’Shit! Darkness is an Eldritch’s bane. He’s aiming to my center mass to inflict me as much damage as he can.’ Orulm’s body had vitals, but there were few wounds he couldn’t heal.

The mana stored in his cores, however, was a different story. Once depleted, the Eldritch would need to find a proper source of world energy to recover his strength. Acala, instead, was an Awakened, and only needed a few breaths to return to his peak condition.

The Breaker inwardly praised his opponent and channeled the darkness element in his Shadowscale armor. It turned the solid Davross ethereal, pitting darkness against darkness and stopping the Twilight Blade.

The violence of the impact, however, took the Breaker by surprise and sent him crashing through a wall.

”You possess the strength of a Divine Beast, child, yet you are not one of them.” Orulm snarled as he jumped back to his feet with a kip-up. ”Also, I’m not a moron. I poured enough Chaos in my spear to kill this entire city, yet you held it like it was nothing.”