Garyth instantly raised a barrier around the entire palace with a wave of his hand, then blocked Pelos’ attack with ease. Aeliyas donned armour with a wave of her hand and joined the fight with an attack of her own that shattered uselessly against an unseen barrier around the wizard.

Gialan summoned a sword in his left hand, took a moment to admire the presence of his right hand, and summoned a second sword in his right hand.

Ah, my mortal vessel has a right arm, Gialan thought.

He manoeuvred his blades with practised familiarity. The two swords were slightly curved and pitch black, with purple glowing runes etched into the length of the blades.

With supernatural speed, Gialan ran at Garyth, leaping high into the air and swinging his blades at the wizard’s neck. However fast Gialan was, Garyth was faster as he smoothly sidestepped the blades and thrust his arm out toward the god and released a blast of mana. Gialan raised his arms to block the attack, but the force still tossed him back like he was a ragdoll.

He crashed heavily into the barrier and pain shot through him. Gialan grunted as the air was forced out of him and he crashed heavily to the ground. He coughed and found himself mildly astonished to see crimson splatters on the ground. He brought shaking fingers up to his mouth and drew it away sticky and glistening with blood.

Have I truly gotten so weak? Gialan wondered, How can it be that a mere mortal is this strong?

I have not shirked on my training and this vessel is very compatible. I am able to fight at nearly my full strength.

“Be wary,” He warned his siblings, “That mortal is too strong for us to recklessly attack.”

Aeliyas backed up a step and gathered in her hands a fireball that grew in size as she fed it her mana. When the fireball had grown to the size of a door, she released it at Garyth.

However, it also disintegrated upon contact with Garyth’s magical barrier, which showed itself briefly when he was attacked, then faded away again.

Aeliyas frowned, then summoned a sword in her hand. It was a unique one with a blade of many segments.

Having stood frozen in fear for far too long, Jason, Leus, Taryn and Altein joined the fight.

They are brave, Gialan thought approvingly, Perhaps my brother was right to protect them so fiercely… to give them time to grow.

Having seen that magical attacks had no effect on Garyth, Taryn drew a dagger from his belt and reinforced the blade with a serrated edge of ice. It was clear that he had more of an affinity for ranged magical attacks, but that had been proven to be useless against the wizard.

Leus conjured a maelstrom of wind centred on the wizard that relentlessly battered his defensive barrier and succeeded in tearing gashes in it. Seeing the success, he continued to maintain the attack, pouring more mana into the magic.

The ground of the palace rumbled and the palace shook. Large cracks in the marble floor began to rapidly spread, then the ground opened up, revealing the dirt beneath it. From that dirt emerged a towering creation of mud and stone that lumbered towards Garyth with huge, rumbling steps.

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Jason leapt at the wizard with his sword.

No, you foolish child! Gialan thought with gritted teeth, rising on unsteady feet, just as Jason was violently thrown back just as he had.

I have to keep fighting, He thought, Or these children will surely die.

With a thought and a burst of mana, Gialan teleported behind Garyth in the blink of an eye, his swords poised to strike in an instant. Garyth whirled around and swiftly dodged the attack, but not before a slim line swept across his cheek. A shallow cut that began to weep blood.

Gialan landed with cat-like reflexes and watched as Garyth wiped the blood from his cut with an expression of surprise that had mirrored his own, moments prior. Altein’s golem suddenly slammed its chunky arms into Garyth’s barrier heavily, the sound reverberating through the room. Thin cracks spread across the barrier and Garyth scowled and waved his hand over it, mending the cracks.

The wizard’s face was a mask of rage as he slowly turned to where the guardians and Aeliyas and Pelos stood. He raised his arms, and a crescent of golden magical daggers materialised above him, vibrating as they strained to be released. A moment passed and the daggers doubled in number. Garyth’s eyes glowed golden and his eyes sparked.

“WATCH OU-” Gialan’s hasty warning was cut off by the roar of the daggers as they hurtled away almost too fast to see.

The daggers crashed into a large barrier covering everyone there, and Gialan saw his brother determinedly holding up the barrier as the wizard’s relentless barrage continued.

<--<< >>-->

Jason had been sure they were about to die. In the face of Garyth’s overwhelming magical prowess, it had been a bitter realisation that he was little more than an ornament at the side of the battle.

Though he had not questioned that the small human child housed the spirit of Pelos, Jason had not expected much of it either. And Pelos proved him wrong when he erected a large magical barrier that protected not only himself and his sister, but the guardians as well.

He could see the god tiring. Garyth was unyielding in his ferocity and he showed no signs of fatigue. How deep that man’s mana reserves were, Jason didn’t even want to know. He felt a wave of despair as he saw the gods faltering. If even the gods could not best Garyth, how were he and the rest of the guardians expected to?

I thought I was strong when we fought off the demons in Silvardor and again in Anhua and Sanobar. But compared to the monster we must fight, I am nothing.

Is this the limit of how strong I can become? He thought in despair.

He’d been one of the strongest of the guardians since they’d all awakened. Though without a power to specialise in, he’d been gifted in versatility, which he’d made good use of. But that was where it ended. He had no special power to call his own—and the powers he borrowed were mere imitations of the true power that belonged to the other guardians.

A loud crack interrupted his thoughts as Pelos’ shield faltered and magical daggers embedded themselves in the god’s mortal flesh. Jason jumped out of the way as a dagger came too close to him.

He expected Pelos to retract the shield to protect himself and conserve his mana, but the god gritted his teeth and repaired the shield with a thin ripple of mana, seemingly ignoring the numerous wounds on his body. Jason briefly wondered if the gods felt the pain of their mortal vessels.

How can he be so selfless? Jason wondered, unsure if he’d be able to do the same if he were in that same situation.

From near Garyth, Gialan surged forward, then seemingly split into hundreds identical clones, all attacking the wizard from all angles. Jason was amazed and was entirely unable to sense which of the clones was the god.

Again, as though they were nothing but mere flies in his presence, Garyth remained unfazed and lifted his foot, stomping the ground hard. As soon as his foot made contact with the marble, the marble cracked and buckled as a strong mana shockwave emanated from him, dispersing all the clones just as Gialan neared striking distance, hidden partially behind a clone. His eyes widened, then Garyth reached out and grabbed the god with his hand, holding him in place and choking the air from his lungs. Garyth snapped his fingers and a burst of magic knocked Gialan’s twin blades from his hands before the god could lunge at him with it.

“I wonder what happens to a god’s spirit if their mortal vessel is killed?” Garyth mused.