Ethan acted without hesitation, he knew that this evil couldn't be allowed near the guardian so while it weakened the rest of the line they were currently holding he needed to focus his efforts on the evil spirits. The chains that were currently assisting the elves finished off the enemies they were controlling or launched them over the side of the mountain directly.

The wolf hydra was currently facing off against Lorena and her personal squad, Ethan joined them quickly, the chains he had under his commands tried to wrap around the wolf's body but the evil spirits kept him away successfully, interrupting his attempts even if it couldn't break his chains. Black tentacles shot from the mass and tangled with the chains, only letting go once Ethan pulled them far enough away.

While Ethan was struggling against the evil spirits, Lorena managed more with her attacks, she and her squad waited for opportunities and attacked in sync to do as much damage as possible without harming themselves in the process. After fighting for a while it was clear that they couldn't hold the line any longer.

With the strongest fighters gathered at one point the rest of the mountaintop was lacking in defense, the elves pulled back, slowly at first but soon it became clear that a new strategy was needed. Some of them got pushed to the edge of the basin where the now spike covered sphere of the guardian stood. Lorena stopped the attacks on the wolf hydra and moved back to Ethan, both of them shared a look before she nodded and called for a retreat. Theirs was orderly and they kept fighting while moving backwards, Ethan stood alone as he tried to kill as many of the undead creatures as possible, without the elves present his thick bundles of chains could sweep from left to right, clearing the entire side of this mountain. The only remaining undead are bear-wolf hybrids and the wolf hydra.

Ethan gave them one last look before activating his [Bulwark of the Northern Peaks] skill and raised an impressive wall in front of the evil spirits and their minions. He himself turned as soon as his magic stopped, his feet carrying him over the rough stone ground. It took him longer than expected, the exhaustion was slowly claiming its price.

He stumbled into the basin and took a few deep breaths while the elven mages threw handfuls of seed around the edge of it. They arranged themselves in a circle and started to sing, slowly the seed they spread grew and formed a mass of flexible vines that were covered in thorns, looking very similar to his chains in function. Ethan nodded to Lorena who was nodding back before instructing the others. Her own squad stayed in the middle, moving out whenever one place in the defense seemed to be crumbling under the pressure.

The army of the evil spirits seemed infinite but there was surely a limit to it so they just needed to keep fighting while Ethan and Lorena tried to get rid of that amalgamation of evil with the line secure for now, the elves fighting at range when possible, the bushes the mages grew fighting against everything that came to close for comfort.

Ethan and Lorena stood next to each other, both of them ready to face the threat before them. While Ethan's wall was sturdy it could surely be broken if the evil spirits are stronger than him. The cracking of ice and the howl of multiple wolves in the distance made him lose the bit of hope he had left.

Still they had to fight for the guardian, not because this was the tutorial or because he was holy for the elves but because he was the first one that actually told Ethan something and helped him to get on a better path that would influence his entire life. For he gave him back the hope he had lost that maybe his sister could be brought back to the world of the living.

So when the evil spirits appeared on the edge of the basin he was ready to fight and he didn't plan to die until his sister was back in his arms, it didn't matter how long it would take, this was his primary goal from now on.

Ethan was lifted by a block of ice as he looked over the ongoing battle, the guardian was still safe for now but the elves protecting him would soon buckle under the pressure. While his main focus would remain on the bad spirits he still activated his aura at its highest output, he would need to find a way change it in the foreseeable future but for now it was enough, after that he activated his [Frozen Prison of the Progenitor] combined with his aura it slowed and froze the undead in place, while it was a slow going effect every little bit helped.

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But with the current rate his mana was burning away as he had a handful of minutes to fight against the wolf hydra, he hoped the elves could defeat the undead in the area that was covered by his aura. Looking at the size of the basin alone it was impossible to cover all of it.

Lorena, who remained on the ground launched her first attacks, multiple arrows flew towards the wolf hydra, aiming for the eyes of its open mouths. The moment she ran out of arrows she approached the monster in melee, her spear held in a white knuckled grip she attacked the wolf. Her steps light as she danced around the monster, evading attacks that would have killed others instantly. She was not fighting but gliding from one attack to the other with a grace unseen by Ethan so far. This wasn't the brute force he usually employed but elegance.

Because his attempt at the edge of the mountain didn't work he tried something else, instead of launching the chains from further away and only a few at a time he summoned them literally under the paws of the wolf, dozens of chains erupted from the ground underneath the wolf, each chain having multiple hooks along its length as it lodged itself in any place possible. Most of them slid right off or simply got ripped out from the flesh, leaving behind wounds that revealed blackened flesh.

The ooze the bad spirits were made off had invaded each part of the wolves body, strengthening it. Ethan kind of wished he was a fire mage so he could burn this grotesque stain away forever. Still some of his chains managed to get stuck, pulling the wolf of balance, the beast getting forced on to its side. Ethan quickly summoned some thick spikes that tried to penetrate the wolf's belly while Lorena slammed her spear into the eyes of two heads, killing them off in the process.

For now it seems they had the advantage, the elves started to kill off the undead in the vicinity of Ethan's aura, splitting up to support the other teams, some of them had been pushed right against the sphere but the undead were too weak to even leave a scratch on it.

Ethan looked at Lorena who was currently at the advantage, the spirits seemed dormant, while he had a bad feeling he couldn't waste the opportunity, so he quickly launched himself from the ice pillar, a chain appearing in his hand which he used as a whip, along his path more chains appeared that shredded the undead he encountered. The elves picked off the survivors and followed him or went to Lorena as support.

After he cleared the last enemies around the sphere he jumped onto it, the elves were now focusing on the wolf hydra, peppering it with arrows or thrusting spears into its side. It managed to get rid of the spikes and chains, in exchange for large parts of skin and fur which revealed even more of that blackened flesh underneath.

Ethan jumped from the sphere and rejoined the fight, so far everything was going well, while there were some close calls with the other elves they still managed to win that fight with only a few losses. Now it was time to defeat the amalgamation in front of them.

Just when he was about to gather his mana for an attack did the wolf stop moving, it clearly wasn't dead with its eyes still staring at them but it didn't fight anymore, a deep sound echoed from the middle of the wolf, like a heartbeat that quickly grew in strength. That laugh from before accompanied the heartbeat and slowly the back of the wolf broke open, revealing a pulsing mass of black flesh, the back opened further, killing the wolf in the process.

A creature cut a way out of the black flesh, a humanoid looking beast with curved horns that wrapped around its head like the ones you find on a sheep. Multiple mouths and eyes opened on the black flesh with a large piece missing where a heart would be.

"This form will do nicely…" the female voice exclaimed. "The perfect vessel to ascend…"

Ethan clutched his makeshift staff and the elves all took a step back, it seems the fight wasn't over.

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