The sentient volcano opened more than a dozen pathways leading to Spyro’s north entrance. It did so because the area north of Spyro was open, because there was a large open area and a massive cliff, forcing the Demons to either try and jump across the cliff or use the bridge. Some Demons had wings and could fly or glide, but the massive cliff was useful enough to be considered when the leadership of Spyro prepared for the incoming horde of Demons.
There was only one problem: a single wide path that appeared further away from the other pathways. Some of the City Guards panicked a little when they saw the wider pathway close to the western wall of Spyro opening, but Zayn motioned everyone to calm down.
He summoned the Roc Spirit, jumped on its back, and flew across the cliff to land in front of the wide tunnel entrance. Zayn heard some warnings from the city walls and some people getting closer, but Zayn gestured to them to stop.
“Get back to your position. I will handle this path with my Spirit Souls,” He declared, his eyes piercing into the men and women of Golden Age. They’d come to his aid, but their power was required elsewhere.
Zayn stretched his body a little before summoning his remaining Spirit Souls.
“Roc, you don’t have to stay here. There is no way you can use your strength properly here. Join the others and help them,” Zayn called out to his strongest Spirit Soul. The Roc Spirit followed his command and jumped back into the air. It landed in a small alcove near the ceiling, hidden from the eyes of the first Demons emerging from the other paths.
A cacophony of screams, growls, and other noises also reached Zayn from the wide pathway. He retrieved the Verdant Saber, handed the Goblin Shaman and Champion his Runic Armaments, and prepared for the upcoming battle.
It didn’t take long before the first Demons entered his field of vision. They looked as grotesque as ever, but their level of grotesqueness varied a lot. There were tall creatures with black oily hide and muscle-heads who didn’t seem to have much in their brain, but also skinny, giggling creatures, which burst into action when they saw Zayn.
They charged ahead, their Agility among their highest Foundation Stars. Zayn was ready to move, but an energy blast whirled past his head, hitting the agile, lanky creature in the head. Its skull cracked, but the energy blast wasn’t strong enough to kill the Demon instantaneously. However, the massive war-axe descending upon the stunned creature was sharp enough to cleave through the Demon.
Champion has slain one Slender-Kaij Demon(Elite).
+3 Soul Essences, +1 Common Card Shard.
The other Slender-Kaij Demons changed their targets to the Champion Spirit. Their lengthy blade-like claws were about to cut through the Champion when a barrier and a green Aegis shield manifested before the area of impact. The incoming attacks were blocked, allowing Champion to dive to the side, revealing Zayn, whose blade shimmered vibrantly.
Zayn triggered Blade Qi, Blade Strikes, Armor Penetration, Double Impact, and Draining Touch and jumped into action. His blade turned into a whirlwind as he executed a barrage of blade strikes, cutting two more Slender-Kaij Demons into bits and pieces.
He grasped the Soul Wisps of the three fallen Demons a moment later and used Blink to return to the pathway’s entrance.
Zayn used Power-Up on his Spirit Souls and activated Soul Link while pressing the three Soul Wisps against his chest.
[Soul Link succeeded. The connections to three Slender-Kaij Demons have been established]
The Soul Wisps transformed and returned to their original shape as Slender-Kaij Demons. However, they were golden now, and their power was greater than before. Zayn’s Lord Rune amplified their power, and Zayn didn’t hesitate to use Power Up on them either, further strengthening the newly manifested Spirit Souls.
“Tear them apart.” Zayn ordered calmly, and the Slender- Kaij Spirit Souls charged ahead without any qualms.
He didn’t care whether the Demon Spirit would die. It would be a shame, but if they did die due to the lack of Soul Power, it would be fine. At least, they would have killed some of their kin on their way into the afterlife.
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Zayn watched the three Demon Spirits dive into the masses of Demons. They didn’t pay much attention to defense and attacked recklessly instead. Instead, the Shaman Spirit and Zayn created barriers and Aegis Shields to protect the Demon Spirits from the worst injuries, allowing them to fight even more recklessly than before. The Champion Spirit was next to the Demon Spirits, blocking the Demon horde’s advance through the wide pathway. In the meantime, the Woodwaker Deer Spirit used its innate ability to replenish the Spirit’s Soul Power.
Zayn wasn’t needed at the front. He could have relied on Power Up and his Nature Card Set to deal with the incoming flood of Demons. However, Zayn was unwilling to stay in the back row. He dashed forward, ready to dive into the masses of demons if that meant they could improve their chances for victory even more.
Zayn blinked into the midst of Demons to grasp some of the Demon’s Souls. He jumped across their bodies, reached some Souls, and held them tightly before pulling back. He used Soul Link again, resurrecting the Demons as allies, and repeated the same process several times.
Since his Spirit Foundation was quite high, and Enhanced Existence increased the potency of his Foundation drastically at Level 30, Zayn had more than enough space in his Soul. He managed to summon two dozen Tier-1 Lesser Demons and several Tier-2 Demons like Slender-Kaij Demons.
As Demons were stronger than ordinary monsters, the capacity of Zayn’s soul was quickly filled, but that was fine. He gained more Soul Essences as his Spirit Souös killed the masses of incoming Demons.
He could create more space for Demon Spirits!
Integrate 214 Soul Essences into the Star of Spirit.
1500/10,000 → 1714/10,000
Zayn wasn’t sure how much time passed, but it couldn’t have been long. Still, he had accumulated enough Soul Essences to strengthen his Spirit Foundation considerably. The Lord Rune’s 10% increase in all Foundations was also a welcome gift. It pushed Zayn’s Star of Spirit close to 1900. Added with Enhanced Existence, Zayn’s soul expanded enough to add a new big batch of Spirit Souls to his arsenal.
That was exactly what he did. He added more Demon Spirits to his army and used the energy pouring into him to strengthen his Spirit Souls. He used Power Up on all of them.
As the battle started, Zayn was at a disadvantage and pushed back. The masses of Demons nearly overwhelmed him. However, the tide of the battle changed drastically in the first few minutes. The numerical disadvantage was no longer present, and Zayn’s overall combat prowess improved drastically. It was only a matter of minutes before the Spirit Souls overwhelmed the first rows of Demons in the tunnel, forcing those behind to retreat.
Zayn smiled brightly and collected the Soul Wisps lingering in the air. However, instead of resurrecting more Spirit Souls, he did something else. For the time being, his soul capacity was filled to the brim, but that didn’t mean he had no use for the Soul Wisps. They were still very useful, especially for his Lord Rune.
Lord Rune - (96%)
Demon Souls were far more nutritious than monster souls. They were more refined and contained far more energy. That was part of how they got this strong. The other reasons didn’t matter as Zayn focused mostly on the Demons’ souls to nourish his Lord Rune.
It was about time to upgrade his Lord Rune.
Lord Rune - (97%)
Zayn wasn’t sure how many Souls the Lord Rune had required to reach this point, but he was glad that dozens of Elite Tier-2 Demon souls were enough to make some change. He continued sacrificing more Soul Wisps to the Lord Rune.
Lord Rune - (98%)
…
The clashes behind Zayn intensified, and the Roc Spirit informed him that the situation on the other path wasn’t as smooth as on his side. They could still stall for some time and kill the Demons, but their situation was vastly different than on Zayn’s side.
He expected that, but he hadn’t taken action yet. Instead, he continued pushing deeper into his tunnel.
Lord Rune - (99%)
Integrate 184 Soul Essences into the Star of Spirit.
1714/10,000 → 1898/10,000.
Soul Link jumped into action again, and Zayn resurrected a handful of Tier-2 Demons. Their side overwhelmed the forces in the tunnel with a massive advantage at this point. However, the situation in the other tunnels didn’t improve.
Zayn was aware of that, but he was not yet done. Only a tiny snippet was missing for him to be ready and leave this tunnel to his Spirit Souls.
Lord Rune - (100%)!
Soul Lord’s Rune has been nourished. Congratulations!
The moment the interface popped up, Zayn's power surged, but he wasn’t the only one whose power skyrocketed.
His Spirit Souls’ combat prowess skyrocketed as well.
It was time to wreak havoc!