As the yellow liquid entered Gi's body, his pain vanished. Without its constant companion for the past few weeks, he felt like he'd suddenly been doused in ice cold water and his mind was fully alert for the first time since the end of the battle against the Spiked Eagle Progenitor.
That wasn't all it did though.
The smaller wounds across his body were instantly healed and his entire being exploded with power. Aether filled every part of his pathways until they were fit to bursting. Strength returned to his limbs and then some. if it wasn't physically impossible, Gi felt like he could have lifted a boulder with his unmoving left arm.
You are under the effects of Demon Larvae Secretion Tonic. Aether increased, Aether capacity increased, Strength increased, stamina increased. Effects last 1 day. Variability of up to 1 day depending on use and injuries sustained.
Before Gi could even read the full notification, a clang sounded out behind him. The Faithful Progenitor had appeared at his back, punching towards him with the violet disc floating above it leading the way. The clang had come from Galvina blocking the attack.
"Wake the fuck up!" She yelled and Gi remembered why he didn't like her very much, but she wasn't wrong. The Faithful Progenitor disappeared before Gi's eyes with barely a wisp of some kind of violet Aether. She appeared right behind Galvina and struck her in the back with one of her discs.
The attack sent Galvina flying towards the mountain but with the Beserking solution that she'd taken she was able to stop herself from crashing face first into it by spinning around and landing with her feet against the side of the mountain. Gi shot a swift [Divine Ire] towards the Faithful Progenitor but she disappeared again.
Galvina had already kicked off towards the kobold leader again and her disappearance barely slowed the demon princess down. With her Soul Senses being much higher than Gi's, her head swiveled off to the side and she kicked off of empty air to send herself zooming towards that position. Another quake rocked the mountain, but its vibrations couldn't deter her.
The Faithful Progenitor came into being a half beat later with the tip of Galvina's rapier only a few feet away from her. In a panic, the Progenitor raised up her palms to block the attack on her discs. Her rapier pierced into the discs, and for the briefest moment, it looked like the block would hold until Galvina's rapier released a deep pulse.
That pulse destroyed the integrity of her discs and he Aether constructing the discs burst apart like confetti. The Faithful Progenitor screamed as the rapier bit into the back of her hand and let loose another deep pulse. She disappeared and reappeared almost a dozen feet away. The part of her snout visible from underneath the mask was a snarl.
"An Aether disrupting weapon," she spat.
Galvina laughed uproariously. "I'm a bad match up for you. This one might be even worse," she said, thumbing back towards Gi.
He'd figured out the basics of the Progenitors' attacks while she fought the demon princess and Gi summoned all six of his [Archbishop]s. Two remained directly beside him so he could implement his (Five Hands Firefly) style while another was directly at his back, giving him a full three hundred and sixty degrees of protection against her attacks. The other three had been spread around the battlefield, leaving them able to strike from anywhere.
The [Archbishop] closest to where their enemy had retreated fired a beam of light at the Progenitor, but she disappeared well before the attack could arrive. Galvina was already speeding directly towards Gi which he took to mean the Progenitor had appeared at his back.
Gi rolled to the side, dismissing his two closest summons and letting the one at the back counterattack even as a purple disc fell down on it. Gi never felt the disappearing Aether from his summon. The Progenitor appeared above Gi with her previous attack shooting towards him.
Unable to dodge, he blocked the attack with a combination of his Dragon Scales and Robe of Demon Steel, but it still sent him flying away from Igna. However, it provided an opening. Galvina's rapier shivered as four identical blades appeared beside it and she thrust all four of them at the Progenitor.
Five discs appeared to meet the attack, seeking to deflect rather than block, but Galvina's swordplay was unparalleled, using the barest of adjustments to pick apart her defense before ramming her sword into the Faithful's shoulder. She disappeared and reappeared a dozen feet away, but Galvina was already tossing a sphere made of hide that was trailing gas to an empty spot where the Faithful appeared a half second later.
The Fire Bomb exploded.
The Faithful Progenitor flailed before a violet disc swept itself over her extinguishing the flames. Her robe was singed all over and blood stained her shoulder on the right side. Only whatever enchantments that were on it were keeping it together.
Her mask too had been stained black from the blast, but it only highlighted the glowing violet eyes that were visible just beneath it.
"You're outclassed," Galvina said, "You don't have to die for it. Leave now and I won't chase. It serves both of our best interests."
"No," the Progenitor said, bringing her still bleeding hand up to her mask. She pulled it off to reveal a slender draconic face that had a violet splotch of scales across her face. "I am Narvyss, Progenitor of the Faithful. We venerate The One, Father of Monsters. If I forsake His belief in me, am I no longer his Faithful? If I don't hold to his tenants, is He no longer my God?"
Galvina snorted. "No one's asking you to forsake the One. Just the battlefield."
"I am the ground upon which my masters tread; the earth that houses the seed of their majesty; and the strength of my Master's Will. My entire clan is defined by our Faith. I will break no bonds to God nor Queen."
She crushed her mask in her palm and dozens of violet discs exploded out of her palm. Gi ducked low as the violet Aether shot past him, each disc expanding even as it did to the size of house door. The discs surrounded the two of them like a kaleidoscope of mirrors.
Narvyss's power had shot upward upon destroying her mask and even without a special Skill or highly ascended Soul, Gi could see violet Aether surrounding her like a burning cloak of power. A grimace had appeared on Galvina's face, but she didn't hesitate to rush towards Narvyss.
With a snarl of satisfaction, Narvyss simply fell back into one of the discs.
The demon princess's eyes roamed around the various discs that now surrounded them, but it was clear that her perception advantage had been defeated somehow by the surrounding discs and an uneasiness spread through Gi's Heart.
"We should retreat," he said.
"No." Galvina ordered and Gi felt a squeeze on his being. "I promised you an opportunity and I'll ensure we both get it."
"This isn't an opportunity. It's insanity. This isn't even the Queen."
"Shut the fuc-" Her head suddenly swiveling as she stared at each of the purple discs. "Shit."
Kobolds poured out of each of the discs. Every single one of them a Faithful Classer that had crushed their masks and had the same violet Aether swirling around them.
After unleashing the Classers, the discs shot backward, pushing back the lines of the war that had been going on just beyond them. Leaf Elementals and goblins alike went flying as the discs crashed into them. The sounds of the battle seemed to dim from within the expanded circle of discs and shadows flickered like candle light all across the ground.
Violence exploded.
The Faithful charged at the two of them and Gi found himself suddenly fighting for his life. Gi rolled with one of the Faithful's punches, turning the glancing blow to a dodge, but the Aether disc popped sending roiling shadows crawling across his skin. At the same time, his two main summons struck out, sending that Faithful flying.
A mass of Kobolds spread out around him striking out with punches and kicks each of them accompanied by a violet disc. Though all of them were clearly under some type of Beserking Skill or item, they weren't the only one. The Demon Larvae Secretion Tonic still pumped loudly in his veins, numbing any pain and making his attacks fire off quicker and harder than they ever had before.
It felt like he had a Core attuned to every single one of his stats.
Gi answered back with a flurry of paws that kept all of the surrounding monsters at bay. He danced around the battlefield, spawning new summons as he moved and only staying within reach long enough to launch a [Divine Ire] or [Breath Weapon] before moving on to the next one.
Galvina moved even faster. Gi might as well have been standing still compared to her, she floated like a leaf on the wind and none of the regular Classers were able to even touch her. Narvyss had reappeared and engaged her directly. Between her Beserking Skill and almost a dozen classers piling onto Galvina, it finally looked like an even fight.
With both sides pushing well beyond their means, the wounds continued to mount, but neither side was able to pull off a truly deadly attack with both Galvina and Gi almost as healthy as they started. In particular, the Shadow Aether of the discs did much less damage to him than they should have thanks to the Water attunement of his Quicksilver Body.
Even with the Faithful being able to escape and reappear within the discs, they were slowly losing. Gi and Galvina dished out a lot more damage and it seemed like an inevitability that the two of them would eventually win out if things continued as they were.
Whatever gods Gi had pissed off must have been listening to his thoughts at that moment.
A giant foot made of shadow crashed through one side of the discs destroying them utterly as well as a few of the Faithful who weren't quick enough to get out of the way. With their destruction, the clangor of battle roared into their small space, reminding Gi that they were only a small part of a much larger battle.
An intense heat washed over them as Siht launched her breath attack towards the Myshk leader who now stood directly over them. A wall of shadows blocked it as best it could, but some of the Leaf Elementals outside of their array of violet discs immediately burst into flame.
The sheer focus that came from having to control his summons and fight a dozen opponents at the same time gave Gi just enough an opening to blast two Faithful that were a little slow moving out of the way. Beams of light cut through their bodies and they dropped dead instantly.
As Gi turned to attack the next Faithful, a very familiar weight settled over him. His body began to move sluggishly even with the Beserking potion pounding through his veins. His fist still cracked a Faithful's scales and sent them flying despite his sudden drop in speed. From the jerky movements of the Faithful around him, their weight must have slowed as well.
Dread filled him as a familiar notification appeared in front of him.
Soul Orb lost to Possession Flower's [Entropy Field]. Current Soul Orbs: 867
A dozen Angelic Mice charged into the opening in the violet discs created by the Myshkin leader's foot. Each one of them looked how he remembered the Progenitor looking with the shining golden lines running through their white fur with the exception of the fact that the back of their heads had spread open like a golden flower dotted with shining teeth.
Even as their Entropic field stole Soul Orbs from every monster in range, the Angelic Mice, or rather Possession Flower, Classers stepped forward and placed a tiny paw on the Faithful closest to them, completely restoring the wounds that Galvina and Gi had struggled to leave on them.
His Strength and Agility were being restricted by an entire rank within the Entropy Field. The effect wasn't quite as bad as the last time he'd fought them due to the Beserking potion, but with each Faithful healed by the Angelic Mice, Gi had never regretted talking to Galvina more than that very moment.
Gi's dread only grew as the Angelic Mouse Progenitor stepped through the discs himself and the [Entropy Field] started to pulse.