Supreme Magus

Chapter 4497: Corrupted Energy (Part 1)

"Are the Dawnbringers something you created after studying evolved humans like the Balors?" Baba Yaga refused to elaborate on her plan further, so Acala changed the topic.

"Don’t be silly, son." The Mother said with a warm smile. "Balors were incomplete beings, and I only want the best for my children. All my prototype undead and my Horsemen are based on what I know best. Myself.

"Nightwalkers and Dawnbringers embody the Odi’s natural mastery over darkness and light that evolution magnifies at every step of the way. Creating the Blood Witches was much harder, but I’d say the result was worth the effort. Look."

Bhaz and the Blood Witches from both the Night and Dawn Courts released bolts of crimson lightning that turned the line of Dawnbringers into a massive Wall of Light.

"Hold!" Erril repeated, his aura and his comrades’ growing by the second as the tidal wave of Upyrs crashed down on them.

The Corrupted Divine Beast hit the Wall of Light with their full might, but the Dawnbringers pushed them back. The Upyrs snarled in pain, their bodies sizzling from the contact with the incandescent construct.

They waited for the second wave of Corrupted Divine Beasts to reach their position and launched a joint attack to bring the Wall of Light down.

"Hold!" Erril kept his eyes fixed on the incoming colossi, focusing his powers to the extreme until the Upyrs were upon his soldiers. "Now!"

The Dawnbringers jumped back and released part of the accumulated light element from their feet into a jet of fire that propelled them at blinding speed.

"What?" The Upyrs’ weapons, claws, and extra limbs hit only air, leaving them full of openings and offering a clear line of fire to the undead.

A barrage of tier five elemental spells shot down the Corrupted Divine Beasts from the sky. They crashed to the ground where the undead swarmed them like a school of piranhas and tore them apart.

"Those spells are much stronger than normal." Jorl pondered. "The Wall of Light was a diversion to hide the presence of a mana geyser. All this was a set-up to lure your Upyrs to a location where the Harmonizers can express their full power."

"I noticed." Orpal grunted as his clone approached the front lines and spotted the raging stream of world energy coming from the ground below the undead’s rally point. "Take one Harmonizer and leave.

"I repeat, take at least one Harmonizer and leave. I won’t fight an unfavorable battle, but I won’t leave empty-handed. For power!"

"For power!" The Upyr chanted as one, calling upon the only thing they truly believed in.

The Vurdalak clone recalled Death Seedling as well and added more runes and mana, bringing it one step closer to her full-powered Blade Spell, Shattered Moon. The silver light of Blooming Night had just left the crystal spear’s tip when a red wave crushed it.

"Not so fast, you bitch." Vladion Dragonborn, the First Vampire, held his Primordial Thirst blade while it still exuded a crimson aura. "It’s not fair for us old coots to interfere in a squabble between children, Night."

"Vladion? What are you doing here?" The Horseman snarled, trying to buy time to finish conjuring at least another Nascent Sprout.

"I live here. The Gorgon Empire is my home." He replied. "Also, I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since I almost died at the hands of your Chosen. Let’s see how strong you are when I have more than a bunch of rags on me!"

Vladion charged forward, but had to stop when the clone conjured Orpal’s bloodline ability, King’s Wraith. It mixed the accumulated darkness element stored inside Night’s prism with the Vurdalak’s life force, generating a vortex of dark fog the size of a tornado.

The abundant darkness element in the air during the night further reinforced the bloodline ability, forcing Vladion to halt so as not to lose most of his strength before delivering the first blow.

’Red Mother almighty!’ He thought. ’I can’t believe that half-baked Blade Spell neutralized my full-powered Bloodbreak. Life Maelstrom gives him too much of an advantage, but I can’t let him notice.’

While Orpal focused on the Firstborn Vampire, afraid more Firstborns of Baba Yaga might enter the fray, Jorl took command of the army.

"Don’t forget your training." He said. "Harmonizers are just another piece of equipment."

The Upyrs obeyed as one, igniting the blue flame that orbited over their heads. Frost Soul spread like a disease, infecting the world energy of the geyser and making it visible to the naked eye.

A thick, sickly fog enveloped the undead, turning them into ice sculptures by freezing the world energy they drew into their bodies to conjure their spells and bloodline abilities.

"Cold and shock!" Cyrra snarled, and her soldiers obeyed.

Wendigos unleashed their bloodline ability, Chilling Wail, before the Frost Soul reached them. The eternal winter trapped in their flesh clashed against the corrupted water element, freezing it solid.

The ice propagated across the blue mist and went all the way back to its source. The Upyrs became covered in a thick layer of snow that didn’t hurt them much but sealed Frost Soul inside their bodies.

"I knew it!" Baba Yaga clenched her fist. "Wendigos can’t conjure the Jerak Cursed Element, but once they wear the Harmonizer, the boost in their powers can still neutralize Orpal’s unique water element."

"What do you mean, Mom?" Dawn asked.

"The Dead King’s powers don’t tap into the natural components of the world energy like spells and bloodline abilities do." The Mother explained. "They corrupt and twist what’s in the world energy similarly to Forbidden Magic.

"It gives Orpal’s bloodline abilities great power, but it also makes them unstable, and the world energy rejects them. My Wendigos and Jerak tip the scales further, allowing the world energy to purge itself of the corruption."

"So, it’s not the Wendigos. Mogar itself is fighting the Upyrs." Acala said.

"That’s a dramatic way to put it, but yes." Baba Yaga shrugged. "Always remember, if Mogar chose to fight, this battle would have ended before it started."

At the same time, the Banshees of the Night Court released their sonic screech, Shattered Soul. The bodies of the frozen Upyrs cracked while the rest of them fell to their knees, holding their bleeding ears.

Amid the chaos of battle, a Corrupted Divine Beast pushed his comrades aside and slammed his mace in the middle of the Banshees’ formation. The Thunder Soul it carried killed one undead and sent the other members of her unit flying.

"Finally! A chance to overcome the limits of the Vurdalak bloodline!" Colurra, the Treant-Upyr, shrank to humanoid size and wore the Harmonizer of his victim. "Yes. Yes!"

His life force restructured itself thanks to the pressure of the world energy released by the mana geyser and the powerful enchantments Baba Yaga had imbued in the Harmonizer.

"What are you doing, you traitor?" Orpal snarled. "That’s my prize! Bring it to me, now!"

The Treant felt his power swell and his body change as it approached the next evolutionary step. So great was his ecstasy that he didn’t notice how, among those changes, there was also a direct connection between the Harmonizer and his brain.