Húng's figure appeared on the horizon almost the moment when Lia caught a whiff of his deadly, unmistakable stench. Before he could unleash a prepared attack of miasma, Rinzen was already casting her own defensive spell. To the surprise of the Misfits, fighting on the walls, a blue shell of ice spread out, encasing the whole fortress in one go, turning it into a snow globe. Those Undead that were trying to climb up or stood close enough were stopped in one go, encased into ice, frozen to their bones. It was completed at the last moment when greenish-black tentacles slammed against it, coming out from a miasma cloud, swirling around Húng's stretched-out hand.
"How long can you maintain it?" Lia asked, looking out, watching the newcomer, her grip tightening on the hilts of her swords.
"If he throws similar attacks at it… 30 minutes."
"He is thinking about it," Simbad interjected, focused on the Intelligent Variant, feeling that it was someone who was close to the Realm of Three Ri and could potentially kill them. He was watching the rest of the Misfits, confident they would triumph in the end; he just didn't know how many they would lose in that battle.
One of the remaining warships also noticed the 'reinforcement' and was turning to aim its canons at Húng, probably making him finally decide on the spot what to do next. He opened a massive tear in reality with a slash, and a winged monster emerged from it. Watching it climb out of No-Space made the Misfits shudder, and there was no better way to describe it as being an abomination to men.
It was around 4 meters tall, its torso was very much human-like, but its hands were metallic weapons, resembling that of scythes, and its legs were that of an enlarged eagle's. On its back, four white, angel-like wings were spreading out as it shuddered, and its oversized owl head opened its eyes with an intense, green bloom.
"Finish off the ships!" Húng ordered, and the voice answering him was a mix of four others, echoing in his mind.
"Yes, Master."
"What a waste…" He looked after the beast he had just unleashed, watching it literally tear through the approaching Marduk warship, ending its existence in a tremendous explosion, going right after the next one.
"What the hell is that…?" Raufon asked, watching with horror, feeling his fur rise to the skies the moment that monster appeared.
"It's a weapon-grade Undead." Rinzen said coldly, "I don't know how long it will remain functional, but it will rampage around until it destroys everything and itself!"
"Now…" Húng cracked his neck, and they felt that a violent energy surge was rising in the air, and a humongous hammer appeared above his head. He brought it down with a roar, striking Rinzen's defensive spell with full force, instantly spreading cracks on its surface that were struggling to repair themselves.
"If that monster finishes off the ships and survives… we are going to be in deep shit!" Simbad bit his lips, feeling the situation was worsening exponentially by the minute.
"You had to speak up… didn't you?" Lia whispered as they watched Húng wave his hand a second time, and a similar beast walked out, lunging itself at Rinzen's shield of ice, stabbing its scythe-like arms into the cracks, starting to hack at it and tear it apart.
"I… Won't be able to keep it together for long!" The head of House Berison groaned, gritting her teeth, concentrating.
"Let it fall…" Lia whispered, taking a deep breath before shouting at the top of her voice, "MISFITS! Protect the wall! LEADERS! Focus on the beast!" When her voice fell, the dome above their head was broken apart, and the weaponized Undead monstrosity flew in, intercepted by the eight leaders of the different divisions. "You and Simbad go and help keep the horde back! They too, need strong mages to help them!" Lia looked at Rinzen, who was ready to assist the group facing the abomination. "I will deal with their leader!"
The monster's might was something that even at their current strength, at Tier 5, none of the Misfits' leaders dared to face head-on. Its arms cut through the stone walls like they were made of paper, while the claws on its leg picked up rubble, throwing it at them like projectiles.
"It wants to bring down the walls! Don't let it!" Raufon roared, surrounding his body with multiple layers of metal and rock armor, rushing in, leaving behind thumping echoes, slamming against its body. "It's like hitting a wall!" He groaned in his head as he barely managed to push the monster back a step or so.
"Oh no, you won't!" Ceiline cried out loudly, using her claws to strike against one of the wings that it was spreading out, wanting to fly up from the ground.
When making contact, her red, dragon-like claws dug deep, attacking the base of the white wing. With a bestial roar, she gave it her all and managed to sever the wing completely, letting it fall to the ground before being flung off its back, sent flying and crashing into the fortress's stone walls.
"Watch out!" Koadriana shouted, as from the 'wound,' undead miasma was spreading everywhere, trying to poison people surrounding it. Waving her hand, she focused on sealing the wretched energy into a watery prison before anyone had a chance to inhale it.
"...!" While doing so, the monster, without a shred of cry or show of pain, turned towards her, slashing its scythe-like arms, trying to kill her. Still, its attack was deflected by the joint effort of Aurora and Sion.
The two worked in perfect tandem, one going for the right and the other after the left arm of the grafted Undead. While Aurora used black blades to alter the course of its psyche, Sion blasted the other with shots from his pistol, doing the same, making it miss Koadriana, who continued focusing on containing the miasma. She trusted her friends, and she didn't even flinch. Meanwhile, the electric, wind, and fire-based attacks arrived and bombarded its body, coming from the other Misfit leaders, including Keily, who was now stepping up in place of Lia.
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"Tire it out!" Ceiline shouted, climbing back up to her legs, holding her bleeding forehead, and shaking it, trying to alleviate her dizziness. "Creatures like this only have a limited amount of mana in them!"
It was a battle of attrition. They were doing everything they could to keep the beast grounded, focused on them while the rest of the Misfits defended the fortress from the horde. What nobody said, for fear of jinxing it, was that everyone hoped that Lakhmu defeated his enemy and could come to save them soon enough.
…
….
……
In the sky, the moment the monster landed, Lia passed by it, flying towards Húng. He was getting ready to strike at her foolish challenger, but Lia disappeared when he initiated a punch, reinforced by a swirling burst of miasma. With a twitch of his eyes, Húng knew he had been played by her, feeling the two blades striking against his back as she reappeared from No-Space, already in the middle of her attack. Her crimson flames roared like a tiger, burning away Húng's defensive miasma, letting her artifacts make contact with his white flesh, cutting deep into his back.
"Speciali?" He asked, turning his head 180 degrees, facing Lia with a creepy, calm look. He expected no answers, but the unnatural movement of his body always threw his enemies into a panic, not reacting in time for what came next. "An Amarin." He commented when his twisting arms grabbed backward, but Lia simply teleported, making a distance between them.
She didn't speak, try to reason, or delay the time. It was pointless; she already knew these kinds of Undead were different. Waving her hand, she sent two arcs of fire at Húng, who let them hit his body, burn away his clothes, and sear his flesh, but it regenerated a moment later, returning to its immaculate state.
"Hot. Your body is adequate. I marked you for retrieval." He tilted his head, raising one hand as if he wanted to shake her hands. "Join us, and you can become stronger than you imagine."
Lia's answer was simple: she teleported not to appear behind him but right in front of him, aiming to run her swords through his chest.
"I see," Húng replied, unafraid at least, until the last moment.
He could already feel the cold blade touching his body. He was going to let her do it; it was of no consequence. This was nothing but a vessel he was occupying, and he could always get another… the Fleshbound warriors were always so sure their techniques were working that it made them fall into their own trap of confidence. He just had to grab the girl after she ran him through, ensnaring her artifacts in his own body. Even if she was a fire mage, he felt himself to be strong enough to resist it until he crushed her skull.
The only thought he had when the tip slipped in was that it was cold… way too cold. This was anything but the feeling of rigid metal piercing his vessel; this freezing feeling was felt by his soul, residing in the body itself. He saw the flicker of blue mixing into the red flames, and whatever it was that he was hit by was not what he expected.
"Tsk!" Lia clicked her tongue when the body of the Undead disappeared, teleporting away, being forced to go after him.
Entering No-Space, she caught a glimpse of him, already flying away, abandoning the battlefield and fleeing to an unknown destination. Biting her lips, she wanted to give chase, but in the end, she stopped herself, slipping back into reality. She didn't know how much the Undead understood from the sudden activation of her fused elements, but going after him would be way too dangerous.
"Coward…" She turned her head, looking at the monster down below, still being battled by the Misfit leaders. She saw Raufon summon hands made out of the earth, locking its legs, Aurora and Ceiline tearing off its remaining wings while the rest bombarded its body with everything they had. She was about to fly down and join in when she felt a fist smashing into her back. The force traveling through her body ruptured many of her internal organs, making Lia throw up a mouthful of blood.
It was Húng who reappeared just now. He opened up a portal into No-Space, halfway standing in, halfway out in the physical realm, delivering his surprise attack. He grabbed at Lia's long hair, trying to pull her back and wanting to brutally decapitate her. If he managed to pull her head into No-Space and close the opening, it would be the end of it. He could quickly get ahold of her soul then, consuming it there and learning what that weird feeling was from before. He had an idea forming in his mind, but he needed more information first. The fact that the young Amarin didn't follow him disappointed him, but he always had backup plans.
"Hm?" Húng flinched again, seeing Lia with bloodied lips but with a determined look in her mismatched eyes. She flung her arms backward, resulting in another surprise for the Undead Elder.
The swords in Lia's arm changed with a flick, coming apart and wrapping themselves around Húng's arms like barbed wire while he was in the middle of pulling her in.
"Wha-?!" He spoke up, as he was once again being washed away by that unnatural coldness, but this time there was no escape.
A moment later, Lia already broke free, pulling herself away, breaking off Húng's frozen fingers that were still clinging to her hair that was now burning in blue fire. Húng's biggest mistake was coming back, not knowing the coldness didn't come from her artifacts but from her body. They were simply instruments in accelerating its activation. The moment she felt his fist touch her clothes, she started the spell, forgoing dodging and tanking the damage to let her elements mix and burst forth with an incredible force. She wasn't allowing him to escape a second time.
Húng wanted to flee, abandoning his vessel, but his soul was stuck in it, encased in an unbreakable icy prison. Worse, he felt his thoughts slow down, falter and fail before stopping entirely as he was frozen for good in both body and spirit. Lia wasn't asking anything or gloating; she was simply breaking apart the dead Undead, letting No-Space gobble up his remaining existence.
"Ugh…" She moaned, coughing up blood again, wobbling in the sky, watching the tear reseal itself. She was barely conscious; if not for the pain radiating from her injuries inside her body, she probably would have fallen already. Fishing out healing potions, she forced them down, enduring everything to go and join the raging battle below.
It was then that a distant whistle made her eyes light up, recognizing the sound. She saw the explosion first as the sound of it came lagging behind, accompanied by a blinding light on the battlefield, reaching towards the sky.
"Solren!" She exhaled, recovering her focus, hearing the multiple whizzing sounds as more Amarin vessels appeared, going faster than sound, launching themselves into the horde while their soldiers were landing on the ground, going against the army of Undead like a tiger getting let loose in a city of people.
The Misfits' morale was raised back high, maybe even higher than at the start. Especially when another bout of warhorns came from the distance, and a fleet of Marduk warships came rushing in, sealing their inevitable victory… The day was theirs... what they didn't know was that some other places were not so lucky.