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CHAPTER 274
297 AC
POV THIRD PERSON
As Aermir stepped out of the weirwood tree, an intense burning sensation enveloped his ankle, signaling the breakdown of the mana barrier around the mark of the Night King. Aermir steeled himself against the pain, refusing to succumb to despair. With practiced precision, he began drawing a ritual circle onto the ground, the intricate symbols forming a conduit for the forces he sought to harness.
The pain intensified, coursing through his veins like liquid fire, but Aermir persevered. Drawing upon the ley lines that crisscrossed the land, he called forth the powers of water and earth; the pure mana residing inside the ley lines answered his call. He slammed both of his hands to the ground.
"Kostilus ñuha dōrī jinītī ivestrilībās,
Aōt mōrī, jūnī, syt mirre ūndanior issa,
Rūvys ābra ivādrī zūgusy azantys ñuhor,
Aōt jorrāelis iderēbis idañe issa."
(By the rivers that weave through earth's embrace,
And the stones that bear the weight of time and space,
I summon the essence of water's endless flow,
And the steadfast strength the earth does bestow.)
As Aermir chanted, the ritual circle shimmered with magical energy. The elements responded to his call, converging within the confines of the drawn symbols. With a final surge of willpower, he blended water and earth, weaving them into a harmonious dance of elemental life.
" Vyguēsin Modocalcinum (Summon Medium Nature Elemental)
The ground beneath him quivered as the conjured nature elemental took form through the earth like a growing tree, a manifestation of the delicate balance between water and earth. Representation of the life force of the wild life and the forest.
The nature elemental, standing slightly taller than a man, emerged from the conjured energies with a majestic yet primal presence. Its form was a captivating fusion of a rock golem's sturdy resilience and a treant's ethereal beauty.
Branches sprouted from its shoulders, adorned with vibrant green moss that cascaded down like nature's mane. Short, thick legs supported its weight, while long, sinuous arms reached out like tendrils, each appendage a composite of rocks, trees, leaves, and moss. The elemental's visage resembled a gorilla. This elemental didn't have spells and other magical abilities like other elementals, but it had something they did not: it was full of life force. It was able to renew itself slowly as long as the ritual circle was undamaged and within a 100-meter radius of it.
The fire element had served him well in sealing the mark temporarily, but he knew a more potent solution was required to erase it entirely. Fire, the enemy of the Night King, needed augmentation. He considered the wind, but it held the potential to amplify only the destructive force of the flames, and that was not what he needed.
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Instead, he needed to focus on the aspect of life within the fire, a dormant aspect that could rejuvenate and cleanse, but his fire was only strong enough to seal. The missing piece lay in the need for an abundant source of pure mana to summon a nature elemental strong enough to serve as the vital catalyst. He had summoned other nature elementals before, but they were not even one-third of this one.
Aermir, urgency fueling his every movement, swiftly drew a larger ritual circle atop the remnants of the nature elemental's conjuring. With meticulous precision, he raised a monolith within the circle, its imposing form standing as a conduit for the powerful forces he sought to harness. Aermir, using his own mana, carved runes onto the monolith, hurrying to finish this ritual.
As Night King's relentless influence pressed upon him, Aermir felt the draining effect on his mana, a palpable countdown to the looming confrontation. The minutes slipped away, each passing moment carrying the weight of urgency.
Aermir focused his will, and flames erupted before him, taking the ethereal shape of a wolf. The wildfire spirit, a creature of volatile energy, stood ready to heed its summoner's command. Without hesitation, Aermir called forth a medium fire elemental, too, the essence of pure flame taking form beside him.
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Aermir activated the next phase of the ritual, sacrificing the nature elemental in a burst of magical energy. The life force within it intertwined with the medium fire elemental, their essences merging into a human-shaped entity wreathed in flames. The color of the fire shifted from the customary red and orange to a vibrant green, a testament to the successful fusion of the elemental forces.
To test the efficacy of this transformative alchemy, Aermir, with a deliberate yet cautious motion, cut his hand and extended it into the green flames. Rather than burning, the fire embraced his hand with a refreshing warmth. A sense of satisfaction swept over Aermir as he witnessed the small wound gradually healing—a tangible confirmation that he had indeed awakened the dormant aspect of life within the fire.
His smile of accomplishment, however, gave way to a calculated realization. While the combined elemental possessed the rejuvenating essence, it lacked the intelligence to actively wield this newfound power or respond to complex commands. The solution lay in the wildfire spirit, an entity with the necessary intelligence but lacking the formidable fires that the elemental possessed. Right now, The wildfire spirit was low-level and had basic intelligence close to a 2- or 3-year-old child. Aermir turned to it and said,
"Āeksio atrābagon.(Consume the elemental.)"
The wildfire spirit, resembling a playful flames-shaped like a wolf, leaped onto the combined elemental and assumed a seated position on top of the verdant flames. In moments, a surge of crimson fires enveloped the scene, forming into an infernal tornado that swallowed the merged elemental.
Within the fiery tempest, the vibrant green flames of the elemental began to intertwine with the raging crimson of the wildfire spirit. As the energies melded, the color deepened into a deep and dark green with hints of crimson hues, and from the heart of the conflagration emerged a magnificent creature—a giant dark green wolf, its size rivaling that of a small elephant.
Aermir, standing at the precipice of exhaustion, felt the Night King's relentless push from the mark on his ankle, a force that seemed determined to erode his very essence. Running on fumes, with his mana reserves depleted and wearied from the intense magical efforts, Aermir teetered on the edge of his breaking point.
The pressure from the Night King's influence intensified, and Aermir could sense the malevolent tendrils of dark energy creeping through the channels of his being. Every step forward felt like a monumental struggle against an unyielding force. Aermir was standing at the edge of blacking out; his sight was coming and going.
Summoning the last vestiges of his strength, Aermir fixed his gaze on the wildfire spirit. "Se haejagon azantys daor (Turn thy being into purifying essence)," he commanded with a voice that echoed with fatigue but brimmed with determination. The wildfire spirit responded to its master's call. It bowed down its head in reverence and transformed its essence into a radiant glow, a manifestation of the cleansing power Aermir sought.
As the spirit engulfed him in a verdant inferno, the flames not searing but resonating with a purifying warmth, Aermir directed his attention to the monolith standing tall within the ritual circle. With trembling hands, he touched the monolith's surface, and an incantation escaped his lips, a rhythmic chant that wove through the air like a melodic current:
"in se prūmia hen nativus lilagon, skoriot perzys se vyguēsin invenio pōja mentis excessus,
ondoso se monolith's uēpa stance, ivestragī se essentia hen purificationem augendae.
ivestragī se perzyssy bona purgo se dāez, couno lēda se tegon's concordia,
hae bantis's sȳndor quaerit naejot memēbagon, expello se labem, restituo se statera. "
(In the heart of the elemental dance, where fire and nature find their trance,
By the monolith's ancient stance, let the essence of purification enhance.
Let the flames that cleanse and free, merge with the earth's harmony,
As Night's shadow seeks to advance, banish the taint, restore the balance.)
The words, infused with the fervor of Aermir's desperate plea, resonated through the ritual space. The monolith absorbed the essence of the incantation, glowing with a renewed vibrancy as Aermir continued to burn within the purifying flames. The ritual circle pulsed with an otherworldly energy.
As the wildfire spirit's inferno mingled with the monolith's ancient power, a transformative alchemy unfolded. The flames took on an iridescent quality, shimmering with emerald green and silver hues. Aermir's form, obscured within the purifying blaze, became a silhouette against the backdrop of the ritual's radiant energy.