Supreme Magus

Chapter 4218: Third Element (Part 1)

Nyka consumed another quarter of her blood core to conjure the tier five Blood Magic spell, Storm Lord. What looked like a crimson thundercloud emerged from her body and intercepted Vosto’s stinger.

The water element drenched and froze the many segments that connected the stinger to the tail, while the air element conjured violent electrical discharges that seeped past the armor’s protection through its joints.

The earth element made the Blood Magic spell as solid and heavy as lead, altering the stinger’s trajectory and restricting its movements. On top of that, the life force component of Storm Lord twisted and pulled the Ishara’s tail, akin to a tight leash.

Vosto’s stinger missed Nyka by a mile and struck Estrizo, piercing through his armor and flooding his body with virulent acid.

After the hit, the light element of Storm Lord stimulated Estrizo’s metabolism, speeding the acid through his bloodstream. The fire element nebulized the acid, making it corrode the armor of both Isharas, and the darkness element sapped the Divine Beasts’ strength.

Nyka moved under the cover of the frenzied movements of Vosto and Estrizo to disentangle themselves and activated Bloodsport’s enchantments. The war mace’s gravity field increased its weight so much that no one but an undead could have lifted it.

Even Nyka grunted with effort, but when she struck Estrizo’s head, the strength of the blow and the relentless pressure applied by the Immortal Ruler spell burst his head open like a watermelon

"Estrizo!" The other Isharas cried the name of their fallen friend and unleashed their spells in unison.

With two of them dead, the Divine Beasts couldn’t cast Silverwing’s spells even if Imosi managed to retreat. Even worse, another one of the most promising children of Selkis was gone, and with him all the potential of his unique bloodline.

’Fuck, fuck, fuck!’ Nyka thought as she saw the incoming barrage of tier five spells.

There were too many of them to dodge them all, and each spell had an area of effect wide enough to render Blink a waste of mana. Yet she did it anyway.

Nyka recalled both Storm Lord and Immortal Ruler to her and Blinked towards her spells. She was still in the middle of the magical onslaught, but she was incomparably safer than before.

Immortal Ruler formed a cocoon around her while Storm Lord altered its density to turn from a prison into a barrier, softening the incoming blows and absorbing the shockwaves released by the Isharas’ spells.

The concussive blasts of the tier fire spells sent the vampire crashing onto the ground. Little was left of her Blood Magic spells, but at least she had come out of it unscathed.

The problem was the hunger. Undead would never tire, but that didn’t mean they had access to an infinite reserve of power. While living beings consumed the stamina of their bodies as they moved and the mana of their cores whenever they cast a spell, the undead only had their blood core.

Every spell they cast or suffered, every blow they dished or took, they all consumed a part of the energy stored in the undead’s blood core. Nyka possessed a much greater strength than any Awakened of her level, and her Blood Magic was a cut above Spirit Magic, but it came at a price.

While an Awakened only needed a few moments of rest to recover their strength, an undead breathing technique could restore neither the light element they consumed nor the life force spent.

To do that, Nyka needed to use the breathing technique while also feeding. Loma bought her the time she needed while Vladion’s ingenuity did the rest.

The orange Horde threw themselves into the midst of the Isharas, attacking like a madman. Large masses of the Horde’s spores swung wildly without a care if they hit or missed, and Loma cast tier five Spirit Spells as if there was no tomorrow.

Griffon Fetters chained the Isharas, limiting their movements and making them easy prey for the emerald blasts of the following Phoenix Smash. Loma also conjured Mana Storm from inside their body, encasing one spore into each projectile to turn themselves into a living weapon.

It was a grandiose display of strength and forced four of the five remaining Divine Beasts to focus on Loma, but the Horde’s strength dwindled at a speed visible under Life Vision.

The number of his spores decreased with each clash, and using so many tier five spells drained the Horde’s mana.

’Either Loma is sacrificing his life to allow Solus and me to recover, or he’s so smart that I’ve no idea what they are doing.’ Nyka thought as she extended her already long fangs and triggered the mouthpiece of her armor, Bite Mark.

During his existence, the Firstborn Vampire had fought countless battles to the death and had realized that undead like him were indeed limited compared to mortal Awakened, yet they only had to play on their advantages to make up for it.

Not only did an undead have to feed upon a specific source of life force, but it also had to be extracted from a member of the race to which they belonged in life.

On the other hand, an undead’s nourishment could be stored inside a dimensional amulet just like food.

Drinking potions in the middle of a battle was as suicidal as stopping for a quick snack, unless one were a Hydra, but an undead had no such problem. Consuming life essence didn’t require any effort or concentration from an undead.

Their own bodies would absorb the nutrients, akin to a dry sponge with water. So, when Nyka’s fangs activated the release mechanism of Bite Mark and the dimensional mouthpiece poured fresh blood down her throat, her breathing technique, Bloodborne, had everything it needed.

The light element and life force contained in the blood mixed with the world energy drawn in by the breathing technique, and restored part of the vampire’s blood core.

’Two of us are already dead, and there are still another Horde and the fungus folk to deal with.’ Utho said. ’Gloves are off. Kill that orange bastard!’

Upon his command, the Isharas lunged their pincers inside the thick mist that comprised Loma’s body and released silvery sparks of Life Maelstrom. The Divine Beasts employed their bloodline ability to boost solely Loma’s mana cores, overloading the already weakened spores.

"Loma, retreat!" Solus yelled as she saw the orange mist fade like a swarm of insects flying against an electrified grate.

Yet without a mind link, her warning came too late.

The enraged Isharas kept striking until Life Vision showed that there were no more spores left, and then the Divine Beasts moved on to the stashes Loma had buried in the ground.

"Nyka!" Solus still had most of her strength, but she was just a deep violet core, while the Sage Staff was still recuperating.

Even with the Balor Eyes and the runes drawing in the world energy, it would still take the Staff some time to recharge.

"I’m fine. Follow my lead!" The vampire had to stop using her breathing technique, but she could finish drinking the rest of the blood as she moved.

Without Bloodborne, her blood core would take longer to assimilate the nourishment, but at least Nyka wouldn’t die if she used Immortal Ruler two more times.