The walls crumbled like cake as Puffles rushed up the tower, leaped off the tip, and... flew. Like a dragon, he cut through the air and charged at the formations left in the sky who kept pulling up all kinds of metals to constantly create angels.
The Ivicer had far surpassed the Holy beast Seth had met in the ruins of Ivice and was close to 20 meters long, comparable to a train on legs. Puffles was still smaller than the giant leader of their race Cerno Bolk but other than that he was fully grown.
The two pairs of terrifying sickle arms glinted in the night as a golden set of runes blazed in his neckshield. A golden magic circle appeared and he brutally smashed into the formations, breaking them apart with brute force.
Like a game of hoops, he wound through the air and smashed them one by one. The newly born angels obviously didn't just watch, those who had not rushed into battle yet returned to stop the flying centipede.
Resistance was futile. The human-sized messengers of God attacked with metal spear and alien magic but nothing could even so much as harm the thick porcelain-like carapace. Like the neckshield, golden symbols and patterns glowed on the white shell that easily negated incoming magic attacks.
Puffles, the Great, ignored the flies and continued crashing into and destroying the angel spawners; cutting off their source of reinforcement. Only when the last one was gone did he turn his attention to the pesky critters that tried to stop him.
While the nightmare centipede was wreaking havoc in the skies, the ground was a chaotic mess. People tried their best to resist chimeras they had previously ignored but like Seth, their reserves were completely exhausted.
Marcel and the adventurers had grouped with the humanoids and the rebels. They already had a hard time just keeping their lives, not to mention fighting back or gaining the upper hand.
Even the massive tiger, Duhu, who kept one-shotting the chimeras in the beginning, was covered in wounds and could barely resist the onslaught of abominations.
The only glimmer of hope was funny enough the demons that had randomly appeared among them. Clad in unholy flames they had rushed into the enemy ranks like juggernauts. Those not locked in battle with angels kept ripping apart chimeras as if they were made of paper.
Wherever they went, huge plumes of tainted fire bloomed and ate away at the masses of chimeras. The survivors were already getting their hopes up when they noticed that more and more of these creatures kept pouring out of the depths of the stronghold.
Previously, there had only been the chimeras that Meno controlled. Lehaliphon on the other hand was able to control all chimeras in the dungeons and had called them to battle before Al attacked him. As such, they kept pouring from the entrances into the courtyard; filling up the ranks every time the demons killed some of them.
Everyone's heart sank when the giant nightmare in the sky dived down and they didn't really calm down even when the creature it snatched up was an angel.
Puffles had almost inaudibly come up behind one of the metallic flies that was fighting a demon. The creature made of an alloy that even withstood the strength and heat of the demon fire-clad claws was skewered by one of the scythe-like appendages.
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The Ivicer's sickles cut through their body as if they were Tofu. The audience's heart audibly hit the ground when the squirming angel was shoved headfirst into the gob of the flying train. With the giant golden mandibles, the still resisting prey was then cut off just above the waist.
They all had a good view of the twitching lower body stuck on the sickle before it was also swallowed. All they could do was hope that it was an ally and not turn to them, once the angels ran out...
While he had hunted and feasted on the angels in the sky, Puffles had developed a taste for these divine creatures. The magic alloy they consisted of was tasty and nutritious to him. He almost regretted having destroyed the spawners so quickly.
But he had to hurry so he could enter the battle and save those people... Oh yeah! That was what he was supposed to do!
The Ivicer halted in the air for just a moment and the survivors in the back, who had the time to, looked at him with bated breath. The flying fiend was looking their way, right? Did it decide human meat would be tastier?!
The runes and pattern on the Ivicer's neckshield and along his body started glowing with unprecedented might and momentarily illuminated the dim battlefield.
Puffles, the great, full of honor, grace, and sense of duty cast a transparent shield, shining with a golden light over the group of survivors.
In one moment, the frontline had been in a desperate struggle to keep the chimeras from breaking through, and in the next, they were standing behind a golden shield that easily blocked the attacks of the raving sea of bodies.
In confusion, they looked for who had done it. They followed the gaze of their comrades and saw the giant centipede levitating above the battlefield.
~ This should hold for 15 minutes. Just stay in there and wait for me to finish up. ~
A voice spoke in their heads before the dragonpillar started moving again and returned to stealing angels from the demons and gobbling them up.
Puffles judged that the shield would buy him enough time to finish his meal. Then he could return and protect them personally.
Seth watched this with an awkward expression. He had a pretty good idea of Puffles feelings and motivations through their connection. Seeing the survivors look up to the caterpillar with awe and admiration, while they were not more than an afterthought to the other, saddened him somehow.
On the other hand, with every angel that vanished into the belly of the flying train, the number of demons on the battlefield grew. Chimeras died left and right and the dark flames spread across the courtyard.
At this rate, the tide would turn again soon. Especially once Puffles joined the chaos again. Still, something was nagging on Seth's conscience. All of these chimeras were controlled, just like the slaves.
Maybe they didn't even wish to fight them at all. Watching the battlefield, he had an idea. Seth threw 45 small, 37 medium, and 3 big common souls into Tisiphones Ring. These were all the souls he still had left.
It became clear that the price for further improvement kept rising the greater the effect was. After infusing the big souls, the secondary effects also started increasing slightly. However, with all these, he only managed to slightly more than double the soul ring's effects.
Seth felt slightly disappointed that the cost became this high so fast until he noticed that he checked his status and felt the other changes. Besides Willpower, his Agility and Intelligence had also grown! By 200 points each!
It was the set effect! He understood why the cost was so high. He didn't just improve Tisiphone's Ring, but the whole Erinyes Set. Taking this into account it "only" took double the initial cost to double the effects.
Hearing the great crash Seth looked up and saw that Puffles had started bombing the battlefield. In shock, he remembered why he was doing what he was doing and got into action.
~ Stop the attacks? Oh! Of course, the great me has already predicted your plan. I will protect the poor sobs on the ground then. ~
After strengthening the ring, it didn't only give him another 200 willpower, but the mental energy regeneration was increased by 25%. Now he felt up for the task and entered the battlefield.