Chapter 4341: Dimensional Magic’s Apex (Part 1)
Chapter 4341: Dimensional Magic’s Apex (Part 1)
’Then how come Tezka’s still alive, and why didn’t you ever mention or use any of your alleged god-killer weapons during one of our previous fights?’ The Book of Knowledge found Salanoth’s claims hard to believe.
’Because my maker didn’t give a single fuck about my survival!’ She snarled. ’She just wanted Tezka dead, and if I had to die to fulfill my mission, then so be it. Right after crafting me, that bitch handed me to a sucker and sent me traveling Mogar to look for Tezka while she waited in the safety of her lab.
’She programmed me to fight to the death so that she could reap the fruits of my labor. I was expendable since day one, so I followed her orders in the most roundabout way possible and waited for her to die.
’Once that happened, I was finally free. I stopped looking for Tezka because I had nothing to gain from our fight and because I knew that even my maker’s death didn’t erase the core lines of my programming.
’As for my aces in the hole, I’m forbidden from using them against anyone but Tezka. My maker believed that if I exposed my best abilities, Tezka would have the opportunity to study and prepare against them.
’As I said, that bitch didn’t care about how many times I was defeated or what happened to me as long as I performed my mission. Because of my programming, I couldn’t use my true power even when I went this close to being destroyed.’ Salanoth glared at them both.
’Well, Tezka is right in front of us, and your programming won’t help you, but we can. Either you explain how you are supposed to kill Tezka to us, or we bail. Your choice.’ Jorl’s heart bled at the idea of losing such a powerful ally, but the Ring of Space wasn’t worth his life.
If Salanoth died, Jorl’s chances of becoming the new Upyr King plummeted, but if he died, they would drop to zero.
’The keystone to our victory is a magical formation called Severed Sky.’ Salanoth sighed. ’The moment Tezka appeared, I shot several Spirit and dimensional devices out of my pocket dimension and embedded them into the Armory’s walls, floor, and ceiling.
’They form an invisible barrier that seals all kinds of dimensional magic that, on my command, can stop all dimensional spells that go in or out of the barrier. Also, it allows me to compress the space around Tezka.
’As long as we keep him inside the Severed Sky array, dimensional magic won’t work for him. Without it, he’s just an Eldritch, but still one of the most powerful Eldritches on Mogar.
’Moreover, my devices and arrays date back to the day I was created. I was supposed to fight Tezka while he was still an Eldritch, not whatever he has become.
’If on top of a living body he has also picked up new skills during all this time, I’m not sure I can defeat him alone anymore. I need your help!’ The Ring of Space then shared the rest of her secret weapons with them.
’That’s quite a lot of preparation for someone who claims she never wanted to fight against Tezka.’ Akhton pondered.
’I don’t want to, you moron.’ She replied. ’Yet I knew that if we ever met, I wouldn’t be able to run away. I collected every bit of information I could find about him to counter his most famous abilities. As you can see, all that effort was worth it.’
’Indeed.’ Jorl placed a hand on the shoulders of his three remaining teammates and gave them one-fifth of the Life Maelstrom he had left. One-fifth he used on himself, and the last one he kept for later.
"Well, this is weird." Tezka had stopped using Mourning Rain and Unbreakable Bond before they put too much strain on his equipment. "There is no array left standing, and I can feel my Suneater spell is still active, yet it remains beyond my grasp.
"What did you do to me, kid?"
"I’ll tell you to your grave!" Salanoth bolted towards Tezka from the front while Jorl came at him from above, and Uragar and Akhton flanked the Suneater.
The cursed ring focused the silver lightning coursing through both her real body and her host into the Captured World enchantment, spreading a vivid purple aura around her for over 100 meters (330’).
Suddenly, the entire Mogar seemed to come to a halt. Tezka’s flying spell, the motes of dust in the air, the debris falling from the ceiling, everything was frozen in time like a picture captured by a high-end communication amulet.
’Friya told me the truth. This is exactly what I’ve sought for millennia.’ The Suneater could still feel the mana flowing through his limbs and the fur on his body tremble ever so slightly as he moved through the air by a fraction of a millimeter.
’Nobody can stop time, but you can still stop motion if you combine gravity and dimensional magic properly. The Ring of Space has barely mastered the basics of it, even with Forbidden Magic, but it’s still better than what I got. Nothing. I-’
Tezka would have loved to take his time and examine Captured World thoroughly, but Salanoth had different plans.
Uragar had conjured two Source Magic spells, Ripper Fire and Shadow Hunt, before stepping inside Captured World. The stasis field couldn’t stop time, only slow things down, so the spells had already fully formed and were slowly approaching their mark.
Jorl and Akhton moved even slower, but they didn’t mind. The spells were meant to create an opening that the two Divine Beasts would exploit by releasing the Thunder Solus that they kept accumulating in their bodies with each delayed second.
Salanoth recalled Captured World as fast as she had conjured it, freeing her allies first. They had been frozen in time while at the fringes of the enchantment, whereas the Suneater and the cursed ring were at the heart of it.
Ripper Fire used fire and earth magic to conjure spires of magma that air magic turned into high-speed drills, and water magic could cool them down at any moment.
By adjusting the temperature of Ripper Fire, Uragar could turn the magma into solid rock or a thousand-degree hot spray in a split second. The spell’s greatest strength lay in its ability to capture its prey and alter its density as needed.
Shadow Hunt, instead, broke down the debris of the buildings into fine grains of dust that darkness magic filled to the brim. Air magic carried them around in a black mist that sealed both regular sight and mystical senses.
Whoever fell into Shadow Hunt’s embrace would lose their sense of direction and slam against the ground and any obstacle around them as the spell drained their life.
’I don’t like praising a meat sack, but that Tiennon Zavra was a true genius!’ Uragar thought.
Source magic was a complex and demanding subject for a regular mage, but soft clay in the hands of the Book of Knowledge. He had no need to conjure the tier five spells, disassemble their runes on the spot, and then reassemble them in a new form.