Chapter 4344: Salanoth’s Pride (Part 2)

Snakebite was heavy and large enough to trap a Divine Beast. Against someone as small as Tezka, it compressed its size and mass, becoming several times stronger. The Fylgja tapped into Unbreakable Bond again, shredding the chain like paper.

Meanwhile, Jorl refused to die, and his strong will activated the silver flame orbiting his head. Light Soul quickly filled the hole in his chest with a sickening silver radiance that was soon replaced by new flesh and blood.

A Vurdalak’s flesh and blood. Light Soul hadn’t healed Jorl’s wound so much as devoured part of his Griffon life force. The process was excruciatingly painful, and with each shred of flesh that grew, Jorl felt a part of him die.

’Guys, we are barely holding out.’ Tista said via the mind link. ’Either you find a way to help us, or this is going to end badly.’

She, Lith, and Morok were doing their best to repel the effects of the Eternity Seal, but using Swirling Wind like that consumed so much mana that they had already used Invigoration several times.

The others had already tried everything, but Salanoth’s Severed Sky formation sealed all kinds of dimensional magic. Without her consent, the space-compressing arrays made it impossible to Warp out of the Armory.

The evolved humans’ Swirling Wind allowed them to Blink, but only within the area of effect of their bloodline ability.

’Just tell us what to do, and we’ll do it.’ Nalrond had already conjured several hard-light barriers, but they crumbled the moment they moved past Swirling Wind’s thin protective layer.

’Is there a way for any of you to conjure some Vital Storm and send it to Tezka?’ Quylla asked. ’That might make him strong enough to resist the cursed ring’s spell or at least kill one of the Upyrs.’

’Are you kidding me?’ Lith, Tista, and Morok grunted in effort. ’I’m using all I have on myself, and it’s barely enough. Even if I had something left to spare, Tezka is too far, and the fight is too chaotic. It’s like shooting blind and hoping to hit a coin tossed in the air.’

’They are right.’ Solus looked at her wings as if they had betrayed her. ’If only I knew how to use my human side, I could at least share part of the burden.’

’You can’t, but we can!’ The Sage Staff said. ’Me protect. Me help!’

The artifact stopped absorbing the world energy through its six Balor eyes and started emitting the elemental power stored in its crystals and power core. The six eyes released a thin mist that merged with the Swirling Wind, strengthening it.

’Please, Staff, explain to me what you are doing.’ Solus said. ’I want to help.’

’In from the gems, out of the eyes.’ The Sage Staff replied, sharing its technique with Solus down to the smallest detail.

’It’s "In from the wings, out of the eyes" for me, but I get it now. Maybe.’ Solus did her best, channeling more and more world energy through her wings as her atrophied mana organs swelled.

It wasn’t much at first, but soon she and her Staff were able to conjure another Swirling Wind’s worth of protective layer.

’Much better.’ Lith sighed in relief and turned to Nalrond. ’Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you had the Summoner Stone with you. My question is, what did you promise Tezka in exchange for his help, and why didn’t you tell us?’

’After we fought the cursed ring, Friya was both fascinated and scared by its abilities.’ Nalrond explained. ’She feared it was an opponent far out of our league and hoped that Tezka would share her interest in the matter.

’She was right. When Friya told him about the cursed ring’s paralyzing skill, Tezka struck a deal with her. He would deal with the cursed ring for us and study its enchantments as he did it.

’As for your second question, we didn’t tell you because it’s none of your business and because we know how you think, Lith. You don’t trust the Organization and would have never let us do anything that might make someone as powerful as Tezka even more powerful.’

’And you were right.’ Lith grunted. ’I should be angry with both you and Friya, but since you saved our lives, that would be stupid of me. Just answer me this. Did Friya strike a deal with Tezka for our sake or her own?’

’Her own.’ The Agni replied. ’In case you are wondering, she didn’t do it to learn the secret of the dimensional crystals. That’s something she cares about, but not something Friya would stake her life on. She did it for Jirni.’

’Fuck me sideways, how could I have been so blind?’ Lith’s seven eyes widened in understanding. ’Tezka promised to help her fight against the Gernoffs, am I right?’

’He promised that he’ll fight beside her once.’ Nalrond nodded. ’Friya believes that’s all Jirni needs to win. Someone powerful enough to cut the Gernoffs’ retreat path and end the conflict in one fell swoop.’

’We’ll talk about the potential ramifications of Friya’s deal later.’ Menadion said. ’Now we have to find a way out of here. If Tezka loses, we’ll die next.’

"This is impossible!" Salanoth roared as she emerged from the debris in which she was buried. "You can’t use the Infinity Blade spell. It requires Spirit Magic to work, and you are an Eldritch!

"You should have lost the ability to use Spirit Magic the day you died. There is no record of a single fight where you used Spirit or Infinity Magic!" She restored her connection to the Severed Sky array, and a new massive gravity field formed around Tezka.

Yet he didn’t move from his spot, and when Eternity Gate trapped him again, he conjured a second Chaos Dimension. The dimensional bubble failed to reach its full size due to the pressure of the Eternity Gate, but this time it shrank slowly.

Salanoth’s array had to fight hard and drain lots of the mana stored in her dimensional devices to advance by a single centimeter.

"Gods, my death must have hit my clan way worse than I thought." Tezka’s and the cursed ring’s swords clashed again, revealing a thin dimensional blade coating Endless Night. "Infinity Magic is the apex of dimensional magic, and dimensional magic is a force of nature.

"There is no Spirit Magic in the world energy, so Infinity Magic has no use for it. The spell you are so proud of is the practice version of the real deal. Spirit Magic is meant as a crutch for beginners.

"A tool that easily obeys their will and allows them to get a feel for Infinity Magic until they master the six elements and no longer need Spirit Magic’s aid. You mistook the rest area for the destination, kid.

"And the funniest thing is that despite its fancy name, the Infinity Blade is not a weapon. It’s a teaching spell."

To further prove his point, Tezka conjured an Infinity Blade in his left hand. Its edges were much more defined and its ever-shifting colors more vibrant than Salanoth’s spell, and carried no shade of green.

Much to everyone’s surprise, the perfect Infinity Blade collapsed the moment the Suneater used it to lunge at the cursed ring, and the dimensional blade left the confines of Chaos Dimension.

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