Supreme Magus

Chapter 4217: Hidden Enemy (Part 2)

The Staff had consumed a lot of energy to accomplish its mission, and there were still six Isharas left. Six grieving Isharas who were mad with fury for the death of one of the most promising members of their dwindling race.

The Divine Beasts still outnumbered Solus’ group two to one, and it was only a matter of seconds before their counterattack started.

Nyka and Loma noticed the Staff’s weakened state and charged at the enemy.

’Solus has taken the first blood and drawn the enemy fire. We can’t let her efforts go to waste.’ Nyka used air magic and the flaps of her wings to reach subsonic speed.

’Be careful, vampire. We are both nigh immortal, but the Elder ordered them to capture me. They won’t hesitate to kill you.’ Loma said.

’I wouldn’t count on that.’ She replied. ’They only need one of you alive. The other two are redundant, so you’d better keep your guard up, Loma.’

The Horde didn’t slow down their advance, but they dropped a few extra batches of spores and sent them hiding deep underground, just to be safe.

The vampire hid Dawn’s prism deep into flesh, knowing that even as a temporary Chosen it was her only weak point. She shapeshifted her clothes into her Ravenguard armor and wielded her mace, Bloodsport, with both hands.

The powerful aura of her equipment eclipsed her own, leading her mark, an Ishara named Estrizo, to believe he was about to face another long-distance weapon.

He raised the Spirit Barrier of his armor with perfect timing and infused it with just enough Life Maelstrom to withstand the impact.

’The fight has barely started, and I’ve already consumed a lot of energy to survive the surprise attacks.’ He thought as he outstretched his three-fingered hand towards the living bullet while the emerald dome had yet to fade away completely.

’Until I get the opportunity to use Invigoration to replenish my mana core and my equipment, I need to be careful.’

Estrizo needed but a touch to store whatever the incoming projectile was in his dimensional amulet and neutralize its threat without spending one drop of mana, but he had to be quick.

Most artifacts could be recalled to their master’s hand, and once they gained kinetic energy, they couldn’t be stored anymore.

It was the reason he had dropped the Spirit Barrier and leaned forward before Life Vision could spot Nyka’s blood core amid Permafrost’s smokescreen.

The vampire stopped in mid-air to reinforce the Ishara’s incorrect assumption, striking at the extended arm as soon as it entered the range of her mace.

Bloodsport hit like a speeding truck and produced a toll-like sound against the Divine Beast’s Adamant armor.

Estrizo realized his mistake and pulled his hand away, but the hooks in the mace had pierced through the thin layer of metal between the finger joints. Nyka stuck to the Ishara like glue, letting him bring her closer to his face as he turned his palm to understand the identity of his enemy.

Estrizo’s eyes widened when he recognized the Chiropteran form and felt Nyka’s Vampiric touch drain his life force.

’A vampire out in broad daylight? What kind of madness is this?’ Yet the worst was yet to come.

Nyka consumed almost a quarter of the energy stored in her blood core and all the life force she had already stolen from the Ishara to conjure Vladion’s tier five Blood Magic spell, Immortal Ruler.

Once an undead Awakened, the unique nature of their blood cores would turn Spirit Magic into Blood Magic.

The two branches of the mystical arts worked according to the same principles, but while a mana core contained pure elemental energy mixed with a spark of life force, a blood core stored the life essence that an undead had fed upon to prolong their existence.

Immortal Ruler conjured a rain of blood blades as big as a drop and as sharp as Adamant that fused into a crimson river as they bolted towards Estrizo’s head faster than a bullet.

The Ishara raised his own mace to swat the swarm of blood blades away and his two pincers to fire his spells at the annoying leech. Hitting himself would have hurt Estrizo more than the vampire ever could, whereas his own mana couldn’t harm him.

Immortal Ruler and Estrizo’s battle mace clashed with a metallic clang, pushing the latter aside and leaving no obstacle between the Blood Spell and its target.

’What the-’ Immortal Ruler struck the Divine Beast’s head, derailing his train of thought and carving deep gouges in the Adamant of his helm.

To make matters worse, the countless blood drops didn’t stop pushing forward, forming a crimson blanket around the Ishara’s head that kept him from breathing and seeing.

Unlike Spirit Spells, the life force imbued in a Blood Spell always gave them a mass proportional to the mana spent, no matter if shaped into a construct or not. Blood Magic spells always struck twice.

Once with the destructive power they shared with Spirit Magic, and the second time with the physical blow inflicted by the mass they carried. The more energy an undead poured into a Blood Spell, the greater its mass.

With every drop of life force that Nyka stole with Vampiric Touch, the scales of the assault tipped in her favor.

As his head snapped back, Estrizo flailed his limbs to regain his balance and shot his spells wide. Nyka exploited her advantage to jump off the hand and go straight for the neck.

’I’ve never seen creatures like these, but I’m pretty sure they too die if decapitated.’ She thought, almost daring the other Isharas to try and stop her.

She only needed a Blood Blink to dodge any attack or spell strong enough to kill her and turn it to her advantage by using Estrizo as a meat shield.

The closer Ishara, Vosto, realized the risks, but attacked the Chiropteran without hesitation. While under the effects of Life Maelstrom, even the vampire’s combat form looked slow to Vosto’s eyes.

’If I do something, I might hurt Estrizo, but if I do nothing, the blood sucker is going to kill him.’ She thought. ’That damn spell of hers is still both blinding him and squeezing his head like a vise. The vampire must be stopped!’

After breaking free of Permafrost’s seal, Vosto had barely the time to conjure Full Guard, but it was enough. Life Maelstrom boosted her prowess, while the Mage Knight spell granted her perfect spatial awareness.

Vosto knew where Nyka ended and where Estrizo started with pinpoint accuracy despite the vampire’s small size, and the Ishara used that knowledge to strike with her stinger.

The chitinous hook dripped powerful acid and was coated with razor-sharp Adamant that could pierce through most protections.

Due to the difference in size between the vampire and the Ishara, the stinger would impale Nyka, and a few droplets of acid would be enough to dissolve her.

It was the reason Nyka Blood Blinked behind Estrizo without recalling the Immortal Ruler spell to defend her.

’Even if I block the stinger, the impact will send me flying, and the Isharas will be free to attack me with their full strength.’ She thought. ’I need to keep them off balance and exploit their fear of hurting their comrades, even at the cost of emptying my Blood Core!’