Ezekiel found himself thrown out of the way as Drew’s mutated and monstrous form charged towards him. Even with Void suppressing his emotions, he was still shocked into stillness. If not for Shine using their telekinesis to push them away, it would’ve been the last moments of his life.
Instead, Drew’s claws hit open air, and he stumbled. His head rammed straight into the corner of the wall where the doorway was. Stone shattered beneath the blow, but also seemed to put Drew into a daze. Ezekiel hit the ground and rolled from the force of Shine’s shove.
“Get up!” Shine screamed as they tried to put back the Shroud that had shattered when Ezekiel had landed on the ground. “We need to move!”
Ezekiel scrambled to his feet, helping Shine reinforce their Shroud at the same time. They quickly became invisible before running to another area of the room. By this point, Drew recovered from his impact against the wall, and had turned to look for them.
Ezekiel and Shine stayed low; even thought they were invisible. It wouldn’t do for them to catch Drew’s attention while he was out to kill them.
“Ezekiel, we need to get out of here. I’m not certain we can fight him right now.” Shine was frantic as they tried to convince Ezekiel to leave. “Whatever’s been done to him, he’s not quite Legendary yet, but he’s still much stronger than us. Especially since we’ve been using our mana so much.”
Ezekiel was conflicted, however, as a part of him was reluctant to leave his once childhood friend alone. But the more rational part of his mind overpowered those suppressed emotions. He knew that there was nothing he could do. Perhaps he would have been able to purge Drew, just like he had when he had removed the Radiant Lord from Riley. But at this point, there was too much risk.
The fact that he had no idea if the removal of the Ichor in Drew’s body by purging it would allow it to recover, or just kill him, was another issue. From what he understood, it was impossible to undo the physical mutation brought about by Ichor corruption. Attempts had been made in the past, using Life Magic. But they had all ended in failure.
Drew’s nose sniffed the air, and his head swiveled from side to side. Ezekiel could tell that he was trying to find them. Fortunately, his Shroud seemed to be strong enough to keep them concealed for now. Even though they were practically right next to him. Had Drew been forced to the Legendary level, however, then Ezekiel would be much more worried.
“Shine, I’ll keep the Shroud up. I need you to use your telekinesis to move some of the stones on the other side of the room. Grab his attention so we can leave.” So far, Ezekiel hadn’t taken a single step, concerned that he would make a sound. The gravel and rubble covered floor was likely to make noise if he moved wrong. Even with his magic buffering it.
“Got it!” Shine extended their consciousness to the far end of the room. Carefully moving a piece of rubble, they knocked over a small pile of rocks that were leaning against the corner.
Drew’s wings threw up a gust of wind as they charged, even faster than before, across the room. Ezekiel was concerned that the dust and rocks that were thrown up would break his Shroud again. But it seemed that his reinforcements were enough to keep it steady for now. Instead, he ran like mad, getting out of the throne room and into the hall before Drew could notice any movements from them.
“I really wish we could Jump right now. It’d make things a whole lot easier.” Shine complained as they ran down the hall and away from the throne room.
A loud shrieking filled Ezekiel’s ears as they turned the corner at a fork in the hall. Moving objects as loud as they could with their telekinesis, Shine made it seem like they had run the other way, which would hopefully throw Drew off even more when he began chasing after them.
Ezekiel found himself agreeing with Shine’s complaint as they ran. But he was still getting a sense of warning whenever he thought about “Jumping” so that simply wasn’t an option right now.
A crash in the distance, followed by another shriek, indicated that Drew had run in the opposite direction. So, they were relatively safe. At least compared to when they were facing him directly.
Sensing Ezekiel’s feelings regarding the last few seconds, Shine couldn’t help but also feel a bit nervous. They hadn’t known, nor cared, about Drew beyond their one meeting. Back when Drew had saved Ezekiel at the initial battle in Harkem.
That meeting had left a bad impression on Shine. To the point that they hadn’t even questioned it when they hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the Tempest Hunter at any point over the last couple of weeks. They, and Ezekiel, had assumed that Drew hadn’t wanted to see them.
While this had upset Ezekiel a little bit, given the state of things, he hadn’t had any moments to really think about it. A part of him had hoped that they would be able to get the chance to reconnect when things were over. But another part of him had dreaded it and had known that the possibility of Drew dying was high.
Now, however, Shine could feel the guilt and the dread emanating off Ezekiel as they realized that, even after all this time, Ezekiel hadn’t once known that Drew had not returned from that initial battle.
Even beneath all the Void Magic he was using to suppress his emotions and keep himself focused, Shine could still feel that sense of guilt and anger. Towards himself and the Broodlord for doing this. Something that made Shine feel guilty as well, because they knew that they could’ve brought it up at any point, but had ultimately chosen not to.
Shine didn’t say anything, however, as they knew that Ezekiel was already distracted, and needed to focus. Worse yet, they knew that anything they said would just redirect Ezekiel’s anger. Either towards himself alone, or to Shine as a form of lashing out.
For the moment, they would focus on the mission, and fulfill his objective. Afterwards, when they weren’t in danger, they could rage and cry and mourn as needed.
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The crack of thunder and the howling of the wind shook the world as Exalt Harras and Broodlord Derrick exchanged blow after blow. A swirling mass of clouds formed above them as Mana and Ichor clashed. Around them, what was once a mountainous forest landscape had been leveled. Craters and canyons littered the region as the ground was torn asunder.
Derrick was covered in cuts and bruises, having taken far more damage in this battle than he had in the last. But that was mostly due to him choosing to fight directly, at the urging of his master, rather than simply hold off as his minions fulfilled their mission.
He was forced to drop from the sky in order to dodge a blow from Exalt Harras. The sky seemed to ward at the speed he moved. The spear of Lightning bending as Exalt Harras shifted the mana that made it, in order to hit his target.
The air itself snapped apart at the speed of the spear’s movement. A series of stray bolts flew into the distance. Over a dozen new craters were formed as the ground turned to glass. Yet, a moment later, the howling winds brought about by Derrick’s passing found them shattered and eroded in an instant.
Harras looked to be in far better condition than Derrick in this instance. A result of the fact that the experiences they both relied on were far different than expected. As Harras had learned from their previous battle. No longer falling for the Broodlord’s hit and run tactics. Pressing his advantage to the best of his abilities and preventing Derrick from getting a chance to do anything but dodge.
For Harras to have reached Tier five, he had to undergo countless trials and tribulations in order to encourage the growth of his soul. Only after decades of hard work, dedication, and battles where death had nearly embraced him, was he able to stand at the peak of humanity.
Derrick, on the other hand, hadn’t experienced countless battles and near-death experiences. His soul had been forcefully grown through pain and suffering. Stretched out like a balloon so that it might expand just a little bit more. Time after time after time.
He was ultimately the only Void Mage in his ‘batch’ to survive the procedure. Right now, it was only the greatly enhanced instincts that came with his body’s metamorphosis that allowed him to fight toe-to-toe with Harras for so long.
If he had simply been running away, or was trying to stall, things would be different. Perhaps a more even fight, like the last time he went against Harras. But the fact that Harras had so drastically changed his fighting style, from its cautious striker style, to a more aggressive and overpowering one, was too much for him to handle. He just didn’t know how to adapt soon enough to matter.
Hence why the Exalt only had a few small cracks and scratches here and there. The Lightning Hunter hadn’t even spilled blood yet. But all the same, Derrick wasn’t stupid, and it seemed like Harras was beginning to slow down. Something he had noticed as he put a temporary stop to his assault.
“You’re trying to wear me down.” Harras’ statement was met with a chuckle, and he was forced to dodge as a set of talons raked across his chest. Derrick had charged forward, taking advantage of Harras’ temporary cease in movement.
“Indeed.” Derrick lost some feathers as he narrowly avoided the counterattack from Harras. “I had honestly expected you to notice that several minutes ago. We both know that your Mana and my Ichor were originally at nearly equal levels. Yet how many of my attacks have matched yours in might?”
Harras didn’t reply. A part of him was honestly ashamed that he hadn’t noticed sooner. Originally, he had simply thought that Derrick was a horrible fighter, and that was it. Something that was true; the Broodlord was indeed a horrible fighter who was not the best at direct and consistent confrontation.
“Previously, you did not try so frantically to kill me. You would lead me on a chase, forcing me to follow, only to strike the moment I got too close. That won’t work this time, obviously, but you would still be doing better if you weren’t taking every chance to attack.” Harras couldn’t help but frown as he felt confused by the Broodlord’s actions. There was no way he was just trying to tire him out. “Tiring me out is too risky for you as well, as it means that you spend too little mana to properly avoid my attacks, or you leave too many openings for me to attempt to take advantage of. So, why are you fighting like this?”
The world went quiet for a moment. Harras was tempted to take advantage of his opponent’s opening, but now that he realized he was being baited into using his mana, he didn’t. Instead, he allowed his curiosity to make him wait for Derrick’s answer.
For his part, Derrick looked cautious as he waited for the Exalt to take a shot at him. But when nothing came forward, the warbled voice in the back of his mind grew louder, and he winced in pain.
“My master wants you dead this time. They will accept no alternatives. As such, I must do all that I can to kill you. Even risk my life, if need be.” Derrick shifted into a looser stance, his wings began flapping harder and harder, as his muscles flexed, and his veins began to pop. “It’s time for this to end.”
The Broodlord let out a horrifying screech. One that traveled all the way to the battlefield where the Cruor and Hunters were fighting en masse. As this happened, a shift in the air occurred. One that Harras was not the only one to sense.
A brief lull occurred. Harras took this opportunity to strike at Derrick, but his spear impacted against the Broodlord’s wings, which had wrapped around him to create a feathery cocoon. Knowing what was about to happen, though having never truly seen it for himself, Harras’ eyes widened in shock, before he immediately flew backwards to put some distance between him and the Broodlord.
Away on the battlefield between Cruor and Hunters, the shift in the air had also been felt, and many of the Legendaries made as powerful a strike as they could against the Cruors that they were fighting. This didn’t happen to the Adepts and below, however, as they merely paused for a moment before all the battles became much more rushed and frantic.
Few of the Cruor’s Legendaries actually died in that instant. Instead, they temporarily retreated, only for their forms to warp and contort as a change began to occur.
It only happened to the Winged Cruor, but their bodies grew larger, and their more animalistic features grew more prominent. Each one grew two more sets of wings, ensuring each one had three pairs. Similarly, their hands and feet grew and elongated into wicked looking talons that were nearly five times larger than before.
Their faces hardened around their mouths, extending into viscous beaks, while their eyes multiplied and moved to the side. Capable now of looking forward, sideways, and backward at the same time. Feathers now covered their entire body, and what little clothing they had had been torn away.
For Derrick, however, his figure had grown by far the most out of all of them. Nearly five times larger than the next largest Cruor. His wings had not grown in number, but instead, he had grown a second set of arms, tipped by similarly wicked talons. He also grew three tails, each one tipped with a feather as hard as diamond and as sharp as a knife.
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Derrick didn’t say anything as he let out another screech, though this one was much louder, and far more rattling than the previous one. It was so strong that it actually forced the Exalt to cover his ears.
A fanged beak clamped around his chest before he could recover. But as he released a bolt of Lightning down the Broodlord’s throat, he found himself freed, if bloodied. But he had no time to check himself over. His enemy was attacking once again, and he couldn’t afford to get distracted again.
As he found himself being pushed back this time around, he managed to get a glimpse of the Broodlord’s eyes. There was no longer any intelligence in them. Just rage, and hunger.
For the first time since he was a Legendary Hunter, the Exalt, Harras, was hoping for a miracle to help him in this battle.
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A lower Tiered Umbral Beasts choked on its own Ichor as Ezekiel stepped off of its body. He had been forced to kill it directly instead of avoiding it as he moved deeper into the castle. It was like a maze inside, and he felt like he had been wandering around for hours, though he knew it had only been minutes. But he knew he was finally getting to where he needed to be.
Throwing up his Shroud once more, he and Shine pushed past the door that the Umbral Beast had been sitting in front of. Two other beasts of the same Tier were splayed across the floor as well. But they had been dispatched even sooner.
“I’m surprised that an alarm hasn’t been raised yet.” Shine kept their senses sharp as they proceeded. The mist seemed to be getting thicker, which they hoped meant that they were closer, as this wasn’t something that occurred at the other Spines. “It’s not like these were the first beasts we killed in the last few minutes.”
“They’re likely distracted by the corrupted Hunter that woke up. Unlike Umbral Beasts, Corrupted Mages don’t discriminate between Cruor and Umbral Beasts, and Mages and Spirits.” Ezekiel focused on the task at hand, moving down the corridor at a quick pace and making his way closer to his goal. “Although, I’m surprised that it didn’t simply begin rampaging and destroying everything in sight.”
“The fact that it looked so... clean, compared to even Umbral Beasts makes me curious about how he was changed. Don’t corrupted Cruor made from Mages have tumorous growths and excessive numbers of limbs and such?” Shine knew that asking something like this might upset Ezekiel, but they felt this was a necessary question to ask.
“...We don’t know for certain where Jesse went...” Ezekiel was quiet as he mentioned Drew’s Spirit. Shine said nothing in return as the thought of Drew and Jesse both being corrupted was horrifying. Spirits didn’t get corrupted, after all. They simply got melted and eaten by any Ichor that touched their fading corpses.
“That’s... what kind of...” Shine wasn’t able to put their terrified thoughts into words, as they realized that the Ichor used to corrupt Drew likely came from whatever had consumed Jesse. If some other process wasn’t involved.
Before either of them could say another thing, however, they finally reached their destination. Only to see something that greatly disturbed them at the base of the Spine.
“How did he get here before us?!” Shine was shocked as they saw Drew’s body hunched over a pile of Cruor and Umbral Beast Corpses. “We’ve been moving almost non-stop!”
“Shortcuts he stumbled upon, or maybe he just flew. This is a Winged Cruor den, after all.” Ezekiel briefly glanced upwards after eyeing the other openings that lead to paths outside the open chamber with the Spine. There was a large opening which the Spine passed through as it ascended towards the sky.
Ezekiel didn’t say anything as he and Shine used telekinesis to move some rocks down one of the other hallways. But while Drew swiveled his head to look, he didn’t go running after the noise. Instead, he stared for a moment before going back to devouring the Cruor and beasts in front of him.
“This isn’t good. If he keeps this up, he might be able to forcibly breakthrough to Tier four.” Shine sounded worried as they thought of the possibility of being in the same room as a Legendary level Cruor. As insane and unfocused as it may end up being.
“It’s too late for that.” Ezekiel immediately ducked out of the room as he saw Drew’s figure begin to swell larger and larger. His body shuddered as he began to undergo another metamorphosis.
Another set of Wings sprouted along his back, while the human side of his face disappeared. He was now, officially, fully corrupted, and Ezekiel could feel it as Drew’s power seemed to make the air thrum. A flap of his wings blew up a gust of wind that nearly threw Ezekiel off his feet.
He ignored all of this, however, as he ran from the room with the Spine. He hadn’t been caught so far, but he wasn’t willing to risk it just yet.
“We need to find a better spot to try again. Hopefully one that isn’t in full view of Drew’s position.” Ezekiel took a corner at a clip and nearly ran into another Umbral Beast. Given its low Tier, he dispatched it with ease, and continued moving forward. His footsteps quietly echoed in the hall as he conserved his mana. No longer bothering to hide it as he ran. Drew was too focused on his food to listen for him.
“Agreed.” Maybe we can use a mix of barriers and Telekinesis to move the bombs into place.” Shine desperately tried to help Ezekiel with his planning. They had gotten so close, but now they were even further away from their goal than when they had first entered the den.
They needed to hurry up. If they couldn’t make it to the Spine soon, then it was likely that a couple of Legendaries would return. At which point his mission would be impossible to achieve.
He could only hope that the primary battle was going much better, and that his fellow Hunters could hold out for a little while longer. All the while, he prayed for a miracle to help him.
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High above the den’s Spine, two Legendary Cruor looked down at the mess that had been made of their home. All the remaining Cruor had been killed. Rotting flesh and freshly spilt Ichor covered the ground. While at the same time, Umbral Beasts of varying low Tiers panicked and ran around in confusion. Unable to connect their instinct to obey the stronger Cruor’s orders, and their instinct to run from the beast that was devouring them.
“What happened here?” Nara had a wide-eyed expression as she started in confusion. “It’s barely been a few hours since we left. Even then, this shouldn’t have happened if the Broodlord had any standing orders for those left behind.”
Azrak gazed silently at the destruction below. He focused his senses towards the Spine, the most valuable thing in the den. There, he could faintly discern the gnawing of a fanged beak clacking and scraping against bone.
“It’s the Lord’s experiment.” He muttered with a restrained, yet wrath filled, voice. “It seems to have hatched while the Broodlord was away.”
“So, this wasn’t the work of the Void Hunter?” Nara was both hopeful and disappointed as she asked this. On the one hand, that meant that they couldn’t be blamed for the situation. On the other hand, it meant that they were no closer to finding their target.
“No... but I do believe that he is here...” Azrak could faintly hear the sound of rushing footsteps moving through a separate corridor. They sounded nothing like the click, clack, and scraping of talons, claws, or bone, on stonework. “He is headed towards the Spine. Let’s go.”
That said, the pair moved towards the Spine. Taking just a few seconds to descend at a decent pace. All the while, Azrak kept his focus solely on the sound of unfamiliar footsteps.
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Back at the central battlefield, things had taken a turn for the worse for the Hunters. For the most part, Cruor only reverted to their Primal form when they were in a life and death situation and had time to do so safely. Altering themselves in such a fundamental way took a toll on their souls. Doing so too quickly might turn them into an Umbral Beast in full. With little to no intelligence left to revert back.
Given that this was a primal command from their Broodlord, they didn’t have a choice.
At the same time, however, they were intrinsically more powerful than Umbral Beasts of the same Tier. This was because their bodies were more ‘natural’ than even Umbral Beasts that were ‘born’ as such. Thus, their bodies were more efficient at killing and fighting.
For the most part, Mages, alone, were weaker than a Cruor of the same Tier. Hunters had a slight advantage, but were closer to evenly matched, due to the, essentially, doubled mana capacity. Legendary Hunters were considered stronger, not only due to the doubled mana, but also due to the fact that their Spirit armor increased their physique to be able to match a Cruor of the same Tier.
That balance shifted again when a Cruor reverted to their Primal state. Their physique grew and toughened up to the point where it was much more difficult for Hunters to cut through them.
They still had the advantage when it came to maneuverability. At least compared to most Cruor, only Winged Cruor could really fly. They also had a greater variety of skills and abilities thanks to their spells. But it was the difference between being a jack-of-all trades, and a master of one.
Hunters could do many things with their magic. Killing and fighting included. But Cruors would always have that slight edge. That innate instinct that made them killing machines.
“Group up! Form Teams! Take them out one by one! Do not engage alone!” One of the more powerful Legendary Hunters called out as he frantically defended himself from a Primal Cruor that was nearly three times his size.
Two other Hunters of the same Tier struck from the side. Piercing through the Cruor’s flesh and bone, they managed to take off one of its wings and set fire to its organs but were shaken off as it battered them away with its remaining wings.
Having fought for so long, the Hunters were growing tired, and for the most part, the Cruor had gained a second wind. The only saving grace the Hunters had at this point was that they still outnumbered the Cruor. For the moment.
In the distance, the sound of thunder had become quieter. Spread out more through intermittent periods of time. Given that this had happened right after they all heard the Broodlord’s command, everyone knew that the Exalt was facing just as hard a time as they were.
A cacophony of cannon fire echoed through the air as the elemental cannons used up their last few shots to take down just a handful of Primal Cruor. The Mages manning said cannons quickly evacuated the area. As there was little else that they could do once the cannons were out of shots.
There was no time to switch out teams for charging it. They needed to pull back before they became a target for the Primal Cruor’s that were still fighting.
“Move aside.” Harolt said to the team at the Death mana cannon. They were one of two remaining teams that hadn’t completely abandoned their post.
Placing a hand on the cannon, he directed his mana into it as quickly as he could. The cannon focused his mana in seconds in such a way that would have taken him minutes to do so alone.
Directing the cannon towards the Primal Cruor that was charging their position, he let loose a shot of condensed Death mana. The Cruor immediately found its torso rotting away as necrosis set in and devoured it in seconds.
“Fall back! Now!” Harolt yelled as he stored the cannon away before retreating himself. The other cannons were stored just as fast by his fellow Scholars. But he wasn’t moving as quickly as before. That one shot had taken an entire Step of his mana. He was down to the same level of mana as a peak Adept at this point. He wouldn’t be much use fighting the higher Tiered Cruor.
“How did things turn to shit like this? We need a damned miracle at this point.” He knew, of course, why things had taken such a poor turn. The Broodlord was, apparently, crazy.
To the point where he was willing to risk the souls and sanity of his followers, just to kill the Hunter’s Exalt. It was rare that the Broods would force their Cruor to revert like this. As it almost always led to a loss in their forces. Usually, it was up to the individual Cruor as to whether or not they shifted like this. For such a thing to be done en masse was utterly unheard of.
Though, from what he knew from what records there were of the previous Winged Broodlord, this was what had happened the last time. Only the Broodlord had been slain. At the cost of the life of the Mythic Hunter who had killed it.
Hopefully, they would be able to at least achieve a repeat performance.
Glancing in the direction of the battle between the Exalt and the Broodlord, Harolt couldn’t help but feel doubt. Things were not looking good for them anymore.
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For Ezekiel, his luck just kept taking turn after turn for the worse. Staring at the Legendary talon that was currently pressed up against his neck, he knew that this was likely the end of the line for him.
He had taken too long to fulfill his objective, and now, it seemed his worst fears had come true.
“How are we going to get out of this?!” Shine was panicking as Ezekiel stared directly into the eyes of the Cruor that was holding his neck. “That’s two Legendaries! Not one: two!”
Given that Ezekiel was nearly down to the second Step of Tier three when it came to his mana capacity, he knew full well that he couldn’t put up a fight right now.
“So, you’re the one my Master wants for Themself... I can see why They would think you were a good match to become Their vessel. To reach such heights with mana... you could go even further with Ichor.” Azrak was nearly muttering as he stared at Ezekiel with hatred and hunger in his eyes. “Oh, how I dearly wish to slice through your neck right this moment.”
Behind him, Nara was standing over Drew’s crumpled body. They were currently inside the open area where the Spine was located. The two Legendaries had crashed down just moments ago, as Ezekiel had found another entrance to the area.
Nara had taken a few seconds to incapacitate Drew, the corrupted Cruor had been driven by instinct to fight, but Nara was more powerful within Tier four, and had more experience. On top of having full mental facilities.
At the same time, Ezekiel was still halfway in the hall leading to the Spine when his danger sense, which had been blaring for several seconds by now, had suddenly become a deafening shriek as he immediately stopped moving, just as Azrak’s talons touched his throat.
“Just keep focusing. We have a job to do. If it works, then we might just get out of this alive.” Ezekiel tried to calmly comfort and encourage Shine. But he knew that his words were much harsher than intended. His own nervousness leaked through his Voided emotions.
As it was, since he had been somewhat warned beforehand, Ezekiel had made preparations that were somewhat risky, but needed to be done, else he would not succeed in his endeavor to escape.
“Your eyes show defiance. No fear at all. Tell me; what do you have planned?” Azrak asked as he swung one of his wings forward. The steel hard, knife sharp, feathers pierced through Ezekiel’s arm, causing him to grunt in pain, and Shine to cry out in his mind.
Not once did Ezekiel let go of Shine, however, even as blood began to run down his arm and cover the opalescent blade in crimson.
“Azrak! I want him dead, just as much as you do, but the Brood wants him alive! While He did not say undamaged, I cannot believe that our Master would want his new body to arrive as harmed as you are making it.” Nara’s words showed Ezekiel that the Cruor didn’t even think of him as an animal. They thought of him as a puppet. A plaything for their master to use as they saw fit. A Toy, and nothing more.
A soft ‘tink’ sound was barely perceptible from different points of contact on the Spine. The quiet noise drew Azrak and Nara’s attention, and they whipped their heads around to look at it. Only to see several bombs lying next to the Spine at different intervals.
“NO!!!” The two Legendary Cruor cried in rage and fear as a small glowing crystal on each one blinked, then went out.
Ezekiel knew he couldn’t ‘Jump’ in this situation, the sense of danger connected to doing so was still present, nor did he think that he could survive the twitch of the Cruor’s talons if he tried to jump away. Even if Azrak was distracted.
So, knowing what was about to happen, just before the Cruor did, he took a chance to form a thin layering of barriers beneath his skin. As well as throwing as much mana as he could into covering the rest of his body with barriers as well.
A moment later, the room was rocked with a massive explosion. One that was exponentially greater than the one from the destruction of the first Spine.
Ichor flew through the area, but almost immediately vaporized. Something that hadn’t happened before, as the force of the explosion wasn’t strong enough previously.
As this happened, Ezekiel could faintly feel something that he didn’t expect. Although he couldn’t see it, he felt that it was similar to the effects of Glacier and Flame mana clashing with one another. Canceling out and forming a Void that immediately dispersed into the atmosphere, taking the form of other elements, or enhancing them.
He didn’t have too much time to think about it, however, as he was blown backwards, his neck getting scraped, but not lacerated, by Azrak’s talons as he moved to try and save the Spine, just before it exploded.
It was too late, of course, but the Legendary being’s incredible speed meant that Ezekiel was alone when the explosion threw him backwards, down the hallway, and just past the falling rubble as the corridor collapsed.
Rolling to his feet with a grunt, he used his mana to run as fast as he could. The building around him crumbling to the ground with him inside.