“What in the world is happening?”

This was the question in everyone’s mind when Ogmai voiced his thoughts. Before them was a strange scene where the remaining hordes of the Niskari seemed to have gathered and warded off a wide region on the center of the battlefield.

They didn’t push forward with any form of advance nor did they make any attempts to attack any of the beasts, fae, and expeditionary forces that surrounded them.

They did, however, show aggression when anyone dared to approach and only attacked when one came too close for contact. They would then pull the victim in and completely subdue them as one.

Ranged attacks also became ineffective as their close proximity actually concentrated the potency of their corrosive aura, repelling most of the attacks they received. Any damage they received from an intense volley of multitudes of projectiles resulted in only a few of their number dead, so the amount of work and resources required simply wasn’t worth it.

“They’re either protecting something or simply want to prevent us from going further,” guessed Amver.

The flame fae had attempted to fly over the corroding horde, but when he tried, their frenzy had reached a point where they started sacrificing their own kin by throwing them at him to knock him out of the sky. For him, avoiding one or a dozen was doable, but avoiding a literal rain of Niskari was not.

“This is a predicament. Despite staying in one spot for us to kill, it’s still quite difficult,” said Ogmai as he looked towards the side at their strange allies.

The primatus formed an encirclement around the Niskari. At first, they ferociously tried to push through the enemy lines, but their mysterious immunity seemed to falter the further they went into the horde. After amassing casualties, they soon stopped and now proceeded only to face the Niskari off with menacing roars and grunts.

Ogmai shook his head as he looked on, “It seems our friends over there are finding trouble as well. I can think of a few ways that might work, but they require time and I’m not so sure we should take our time based on that foul energy we felt earlier.”

Amver nodded in agreement. Although they needed to stall the enemy forces in the beginning for the vessel to be completed, the ominous energies they sensed earlier didn’t portent anything good. What they needed now was a sure way to break through and ensure whatever was happening was prevented from coming to fruition.

“Well, isn’t that a strange sight.”

Just as they were pondering on what action to take, Jortus had arrived along with Loen and a few of their forces.

“Magister, perhaps you have a way around this?” asked Amver.

Jortus looked on at the wall of Niskari then grumbled, “I certainly have one, but I was really hoping to use it directly against Bolragmal. It’s kind of a waste to use it just to clear this mess.”

Loen turned to him with a frown and asked, “You’re not thinking of using the aether bomb, are you?”

With a look as though he had a thorn in his shoe, Jortus nodded, “Indeed I am. The only one in my person and handcrafted by yours truly. With [corrosion] that dense, it’s the only thing that could last long enough and clear the way for us.”

Loen had a concerned look. An aether bomb was an explosive that could only be crafted by those possessing a deep understanding of mana and magic. Crafted using solidified mana and incredibly rare materials, it was a powerful bomb that could resist the Nul energies of the Outrealm while completely eradicating it when detonated.

However, they were quite difficult to make. Not only did the process require a deft hand and fine control of mana, the ingredients to make one were mostly not of this world. Its main components can only usually be found in regions where a tear in the Materium had occurred, so availability was incredibly scarce.

Since its power was something that could threaten the Niskari Lord directly, Jortus having to use it for simply clearing out the mass of Niskari really did seem like a waste.

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With a pained look, Jortus was about to bring it out and arm it when changes started happening among the Niskari once again.

A scream echoed out amongst the Niskari as a vast number of them suddenly began disintegrating into red mist. The mist then began to spiral and flow into the sky as they joined to become one massive vortex that seemed to be heading towards the center of the horde’s formation.

Seeing the huge cyclone in the sky formed by the disintegrating Niskari, the combined forces of the fae and the expedition then turned towards the horde and realized that only around half of their numbers remain.

With only half remaining, the potency of the corrosive energies surrounding them had lessened considerably.

Seeing this as their chance, Jortus signaled towards Ogmai and the rock fae in turn called towards Amver.

Working together, Jortus closed his eyes as he released the staff in his hands while he extended his arms forward with the staff levitating in front of him.

Ogmai willed a vast number of rock and stone to surge upwards from the earth while Amver released a long trailing ribbon of fire swirling towards the mage.

As the elements neared, Jortus opened his eyes to reveal a white-blue glow flaring within his pupils appearing like azure fire burning with intensity.

The staff then began to turn rapidly as the elements around it were sucked up and spun forming a spiral.

Fire and stone intermingled to form the head of a great spinning tip of a lance that churned the air and ambient mana.

Gesturing forward with his hand, the elemental drill of stone and fire flew forward towards the thinned encirclement of the Niskari.

With their [corrosion] not as concentrated as before, once the tip of the drill made contact, the sound of seared and shredded flesh began to resonate all around them.

Jortus then ran forward as he pierced through the enemy lines with his magic.

Following closely behind him, Loen and a small group of their elite followed along while shielded by the conjured elemental weapon.

Behind them, the Fae Lords, along with their brethren, followed then stopped midway to ensure their path of retreat remained open.

Not looking back, Jortus and his forces pressed forward for what felt like hours as they continuously ground the Niskari that blocked their path.

Right as the energy of the magic began to dissipate, the resistance the old mage felt began to lessen.

It wasn’t until the magic had fully faded and dispersed that what was beyond the encirclement was finally revealed.

To Jortus’ surprise, Bolragmal’s current form appearing like a ten-foot skinless reptilian horned humanoid implied that it had indeed awakened prematurely.

If it had truly regained its previous peak of power, its form would’ve been much larger and more tyrannical having once possessed a draconic body. This meant that whatever ordeal it had encountered was enough to force it out of its shell, which was the Fetid Aberration, much earlier.

Currently in the midst of absorbing the massive cyclone from before, the Niskari Lord was unmoving and focused mainly on absorption. Seeing its current state, Jortus instead turned towards the other creatures that were present.

He recognized the two well known primatus Tyrants and the one unnamed, but he didn’t expect that the black and white pair of wolves were Tyrants as well.

He was simply shocked. The two wolves before him had the same mana signature as the two young pups that they once saved from the Chimeric Fallen Bloom. It had only been a few months since he last saw them and while they did appear to be only juveniles, it didn’t change the fact that they were only mere pups not so long ago.

If that wasn’t already shocking enough, the pair gave off the pressure of a Tyrant.

While this was a shocking revelation, Jortus had to shake off his daze and turn towards the last creature that was present. Giving off a familiar yet unfamiliar presence, Jortus approached the most confounding creature of them all.

Despite it kneeling on the ground, he could tell that it was over fifteen feet high with a defined humanoid body. Its features appeared similar to a large lycanthrope possessing a pair of horns and strange feelers. Its face also bore a bone-like mask that gave it the impression that it wore a skull on its head.

Its form made it quite intimidating, but seeing the presence of intelligence in its eyes, Jortus was again certain that this creature was no mere beast.

As he got closer, he noticed that one of its arms was missing from the elbow.

What’s strange was that despite there being a small red cloud of dense [corrosion] hanging on its surface, the arm didn’t continue to deteriorate.

In fact, he noticed that the arm was slowly regenerating while the red cloud gradually turned clearer.

He was now sure that the source of the primatus’ immunity to the [corrosion] came from this creature.

As he approached, he suddenly heard the cries of a child.

Lowering his gaze, he saw a young green fae of the wood that appeared to be quite anxious as it looked towards the creature.

He could sense that the fae attempted to use its powers to heal the beast while it remained a few feet away to avoid the corrosive energies on its body, but the energies were just too severe that its magic withered out before it could take effect.

The great beast shook its head at the fae then turned towards the old mage and his group.

As Jortus drew closer, Loen grabbed his shoulder to let him know of his worries.

The old mage turned towards him with a knowing look as he nodded to assure him.

Still reluctant, Loen let go as he and his men turned towards the real threat while setting up their preparations.

Jortus then turned back towards the beast and continued his approach while they both continued to watch each other’s actions.

As he was barely five feet away with the beast still staring at him, he had finally spoken.

“We meet again, friend.”

***