With the Angelic Mice and Faithful staring down Gi and Galvina, the universe sent its own reminder that it was there, sending an earthquake that was twice as hard as those that had come before. Boulders crashed against the Myshkin leader's legs of shadow, one of which was still visible through the hole in the violet discs.
The quake was a starting pistol that signaled the battle had restarted. The stalemate near Gi had continued as the Faithful around him also suffered from the effects of the [Entropy Field] of the Angelic Mice. That stalemate ended when the first Flower turned Mouse arrived.
Its two handed sword cut down toward Gi at a speed that would have been difficult for him when he was fresh, but it was all he could do to turn it into a glancing blow that was taken care of by his Core. Even worse, it put him off balance, allowing one of the Faithful to strike a direct hit against him with one of their violet discs.
Shadow exploded over his chest and burrowed past his Robes of Demon Steel, sending an arc of pain against his chest that was completely ignored due to his Beserking tonic. Gi had to expend a burst of Aether as he quickly dismissed and resummoned his [Archbishop]s to provide enough of an opening for him to take his feet.
It was taking all of his skill and an enormous amount of Aether to keep him from being completely overwhelmed, but as more and more of the Angelic Mice joined the fray, wounds he started to accumulate all over his body. They were completely avoiding the fight with Galvina and heading straight for him including the Angelic Mice Progenitor.
The leader of the Mice stalked towards him, a snarl on his face.
"You slaughtered our clanmates and children and then hid behind the Faithful when it came time for you to face the consequences of your sins." He gestured to the Faithful either actively attacking him or awaiting on an opening to dive in. "There's no Sky Clan willing to protect you now is there?"
The Progenitor didn't wait for him to respond to his words as he dove towards him. Despite not being under a Berserking effect, he was faster than Gi was without the [Entropy Field]. It slashed out with its two handed sword and Gi leaned backwards, just enough that his Core should be able to take care of it, but the Progenitor's arms extended like a stretched plant stem.
The blow cracked into his Robe of Demon Steel and for the first time, a rip appeared on the enchanted item. Even as Gi was slammed into the ground by the power behind the attack, he looked with disbelief at the Progenitor's sword.
The Mouse smirked. "You're not the only one with enchanted items. We've been fully entrenched here since before the Queen's rise to power. No one in all that time has been foolish enough to attack us."
The Mouse let loose a flurry of attacks and Gi had just enough time to use one of his summons to skip away, but the Faithful surrounding him took advantage of his distraction and two discs of shadow slammed into his back, traveling around his robes and searing into his skin.
A burst of [Divine Ire] cleared a path, but the Angelic Mouse Progenitor used the opening to dive back in. The Mouse's attacks fell like a relentless hail, each attack either slamming into him or freezing out his options. Even with his Core, his Robes, and his dragon scales, there was only so much that he could do against this insane all out offense.
This was the true power of a Clan that had lasted centuries, building its foundations all while hiding its strength.
Cuts appeared all along Gi's Robes and blood dribbled out from dozens of wounds all across his body. His (Five Hands Firefly) was showing its limits. After defending against one of the Faithful, the Mouse stabbed forward at a speed quicker than Gi had seen yet. He was just a bit too slow summoning an [Archbishop] and the attack cut through the swirling Aether to carve into his dragon scales and deep into his forearm.
The strength of the blow sent him crashing back into the Faithful behind him, blood and scales flying everywhere. He flopped onto the ground and tried to jump back to his feet, but even with the pain suppressed, there was only so much he could cheat fate.
His right forearm flopped limply against the ground as he tried get up, but it wouldn't work. A Mouse paw slammed into his chest, sending him flying back into the mountain and Gi felt a sharp crack as his back hit the rock.
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"Is this how our Children felt when you struck them down? Or did you not even have the decency to murder them yourself, giving some underling the fell Karma of your orders?"
Just as his hasty action had forced him into this fight, his ruthless ones had brought him here at the point of the Angelic Mouse Progenitor's sword. Was this the problem with strength? Or had it always been the fate of the one who had been Richard?
The Mouse Progenitor stalked forward to end Gi's life, but his eyes suddenly flicked open wide before he could get there. With a wild spin, the Mouse shifted to block a beam of light on the flat of his two-handed sword. He snarled and the petals on the back of his head shifted irritably and Gi's head lolled as he followed the Progentor's gaze.
The Twins strode casually from the path that led towards Elizabeth's manor. Their right and left arms were raised together and another blast of light fired out with a strength that forced the Mouse Progenitor back again. Around them, weapons of water or mist beat back Leaf Elementals or Faithful as Kumo and Tiria kept the Twins defended as they protected Gi in turn.
Gi's mouth spread in a pained smile. "I guess there's still one Sky Clan willing to protect me."
Beams of [Piercing Light] cut through the air, forcing the Progenitor back from Gi until the Twins stood directly over Gi. On all sides, he was surrounded by Tiria, Kumo, and even Georgia who'd returned with the rest of their clan that had attacked the Igna Spiked Eagle nest. Rhinos and Hunters formed a line that surged towards the Angelic Mice and the Faithful.
The Twins pointed their joined hands towards the Mouse Progenitor. "Stay away from the Boss."
The Mouse Progenitor's snarl only deepened. "ANGELIC CLAN! TO ME!"
His shout was answered back by the Classers that had slowly been making their way through the battlefield where Gi and Galvina had fought. Like Gi, Galvina had taken some serious wounds though hers were much less severe than Gi's since all of her arms still worked.
However at that point, the first Faithful fell, suddenly affected by Soul Sickness.
Narvyss, the Faithful Progenitor, yelled out over the battlefield. "Turn it off you're killing us!"
Ignoring the Faithful and their battle against Galvina, the Angelic Mice pushed past to array behind their Progenitor and the Underbridge Clan did the same in front of Gi. With help from Poe, Gi managed to get back to his feet. Despite a sum total of zero working arms and the promise of a tsunami of pain when the potion wore off, he refused to let his clan fight without him.
Their two clans met head on. Rhino crashed into the agile Mice who's fighting style was far more advanced than the Brain Goblins had been. Tiria, Kumo, and the Twins were the most effective at fighting them since they could do so safely at a distance.
At the same time, the Hidden Spiders and Poe were using webs to limit the movements of the faster and more powerful Mice, allowing their Clan to fight at almost an even ground.
Gi himself threw himself bodily into the fray, abusing his summons close in on the Mouse Progenitor. Without Faithful swarming around him and backup from the Twins' [Piercing Light], he'd was finally able to fight back.
Even without his arm being able to move, its pathways were still whole and Gi pushed (Five Hands Firefly) past its current state. He did a side flip over a slash from the Mouse Progenitor and sent out a [Divine Ire] rocketing towards his enemy as his arm fell from gravity to align perfectly with the his foe's head.
The Mouse dodged it, but it opened up a spot for one of Gi's summons to continue the attack, increasing the pressure on the Angelic Mouse.
Death reigned on the mountain. The Faithful now alone against Galvina started to struggle as the Demon princess fought back, carving a path through their weakened forces. All around them, goblin still fought elemental. Above, the defected Fire Elementals became visible sending bursts of fire against the Divine Horrors whose invisible attacks seemed to warp the air around them before exploding.
Even further above, Queen Siht had clearly had enough and spiraled into a dive towards the Myshk Progenitor. A spear of shadow cut into her flank, but she closed the distance and opened up her claws first to grab both of the Myshkin Progenitor's arms.
Even from the ground, Gi could see the Slenderman's eyes widen as flame and Aether licked behind the Queen's teeth. Just as she sent a gout of superheated flames pouring over the Myshkin leader, another jagged tree of shadows erupted out from his chest stabbing into the Queen.
The Slenderman's entire body started to flicker in and out as the fire did far more damage to him than the shadow spears had done to the Queen. Still, huge drops of draconian blood poured from the sky and splashed onto those fighting below. The Slenderman clan turned their attacks on the Queen and the Fighting Drakes took that opening to charge into their ranks in a perfect line.
Shadows swarmed out of the Slenderman Progenitor as he activated some type of Beserking Skill and split into two towering versions of himself. Likewise as the one who'd instigated the change in the battle, the Queen released her own skill.
Dozens of pillars of flame each bigger than Elizabeth's manor exploded out of the ground and erupted up into the sky like a giant tornado of fire. Everywhere they erupted, monsters shot into the air, cooking to death before they had a chance to fall back to the earth. With the pillars of flame forming both a maze to fight through and a cage pinning them in, the Slendermen clan were now struggling not to be slaughtered by the coordinated Fighting Drakes.
Unfortunately, the Underbridge Clan wasn't immune to the slaughter either.
One of the pillars of flame had engulfed their left flank, instantly killing half of the Hidden Spiders and a fifth of their Hunters. The strong Rhinos were at a distinct disadvantage against the Angelic Clan's [Entropy Field] and even with the ranged support and webs preventing them from using their full speed, death still mounted on both sides.
Georgia yelled out in a pained sob even as she fought and tears that poured down her cheeks were instantly dried by the heat of the nearby pillar. Kumo was panting heavily having already burned through a lot of her Aether to try and keep up under the effects of the [Entropy Field]. Only Tiria, Poe, and the Twins were able to fight relatively unhampered.
If Gi didn't do something, his Elites were going to die here, a place they were only at because of his mistake in working with Galvina. He'd been so angry at Elizabeth for betraying his clan, but compared to where he'd taken them, who was worse?
To make matters more dire, pain started to seep back into the corners of his mind. The potion was supposed to last a full day, but he'd completely burned through it fighting back against the more established Sky Clans so soon after the Spiked Eagles.
The Angelic Mouse Progenitor had all the stabbing poise of a tap dancer as he struck, darted away, and struck again, constantly using his in and out style to prevent Gi from tying him up in a melee where Gi could use his numbers advantage to do any real damage. If he wanted to get his clan out of this, he'd have to take a risk.
All he needed was an opening.
As though Danna had stepped down from heaven to provide one last miracle for her former husband, the earth itself seemed to break apart.