The two effects synergized in a loop that instantly dropped the temperature by dozens of degrees in their area of effect even when they missed their target.
The Dragon blood flowing in Lith’s veins made his Tiamat form weak to cold, so he couldn’t let any of the Frozen Wastelands come anywhere close. The situation would have been bad even if he fought the Ishara Elder alone, but Lith also had to stay on guard against Ankhuta’s apprentices.
The two younger Isharas were less skilled than their master, but they always remained behind Ankhuta and fired spells on Lith to keep him on the back foot.
The Elder’s apprentices moved to close-quarter combat only when Lith was already cornered, making any opening they unwittingly left in their defense impossible for the Tiamat to exploit.
Lith had held his ground until that moment only because Solus filtered the redundant information from the Ears and Eyes of Menadion, sparing him the mental burden that the artifacts would put on him.
The two pieces of Menadion Set allowed him to read the trajectories of blades and spells, moving out of every attack’s way before it even started. Lith had also infused Ragnarök with Raging Severance and circulated the water element in the Davross of the blade to further enhance its effects.
Every time the angry blade clashed with one of the Ishara’s polearms, the latter became covered in a thick layer of ice that sealed its enchantments and slowly drained its power core.
When one of the compressed spells came too close to home, Lith intercepted it with Ragnarök and severed the spell’s connection with the world energy, neutralizing it before it could unleash the power of the elements.
This tactic was particularly effective against water spells like Frozen Wasteland.
In such a case, however, Lith replaced the water element in the Davross with Jerak. The Cursed Element combined with Raging Severance to turn such spells into a a solid block of ice that plummeted like a brick and harmlessly exploded when it hit the ground.
Ankhuta had no explanation for the phenomenon, but he was still confident in his victory.
’No matter what dirty trick Verhen uses, if he can’t attack, he’s destined to lose.’ He thought. ’I only need to land one solid blow. The moment Verhen falters, my disciples will finish him off.’
’I can’t keep up like this. It’s only a matter of time before I make a mistake or they get lucky. When that happens, I’m dead.’ Lith was aware of the problem as well and pushed his brain to the limit to find a solution.
’Do you want me to step in?’ Solus asked while reading the mana flow of the incoming Isharas’ spells with the Ears and warning Lith of their hidden strategy thanks to the Eyes.
’And to what end?’ Lith replied. ’If someone sees you appear out of nowhere, it won’t be just the Isharas to ask us questions we can’t answer. Moreover, you don’t have the raw strength to face them either, and without you the Eyes and Ears would become useless to me.
’Divided we’d be a much easier prey, Solus. Our only chance of victory is to face them together and play dirty!’
Lith intercepted Ankhuta’s spear and covered it in ice from Raging Severance. Before the Ishara Elder could move aside to let his disciples follow into his attack with their own, Lith activated the red and black memory crystals in his armor, conjuring a tier five Final Eclipse.
A sphere of black flames enveloped Lith and washed over the master and apprentices’ trio.
’Now!’ Lith used Void Magic to turn Final Eclipse into Frozen Crescent, a pillar of icy light.
At the same time, he activated the blue and silver crystals in his armor to double Frozen Crescent’s destructive power. Ankhuta and his disciples found themselves trapped in a thick layer of ice that somehow amplified the effects of the Raging Severance that already plagued their weapons.
The power cores of the Isharas’ equipment bled mana at an alarming rate, yet Lith still had one card to play.
’Jerak Skan Ghirash!’ He conjured the tier three Zero Spell, Arctic Despair, right into the very center of the Frozen Crescent.
The Cursed Element spread through the normal ice like a disease, dropping the temperature below -200° C and turning the frozen pillar that encased the Isharas into Zero.
The Blood of Selkis felt the heat escape from their bodies and with it, their lives. The Isharas unleashed the spells they had prepared to deal with Lith against themselves, shattering their icy prison before the cold lulled them into an eternal slumber.
Lith bolted forward with his blade aimed at Ankhuta’s head, to take the Elder down before he could warm himself up.
"I admit my arrogance and recognize your strength." The Elder Ishara said as he released a swirling blue sphere of Doom Tide.
The two younger Isharas conjured two much smaller domes of Doom Tide to ride their master’s bloodline ability until it expanded far enough away from him to Blink to his side.
The growing number of Lesser Divine Beasts born in the Ishara clan had forced them to consider the death of any pure-blooded child of Selkis like an unacceptable failure and develop techniques that maximized their youngest members’ chances of survival.
Lith took the Doom Tide in full, instead, failing to resist its overwhelming pressure.
’It’s not the first time I deal with someone who can use Doom Tide, but it’s the first time someone also imbues it with Life Maelstrom against me!’ Lith inwardly cursed as the blue energy blast swept him away.
The Isharas had all the time they needed to free their weapons from the Raging Severance and heal the damage they had suffered from the Frozen Crescent. Their equipment, however, wasn’t so lucky.
’Master, my weapon’s power core is below half mana capacity. We need to retreat.’ One of the younger Isharas said.
’Don’t be an idiot, Venkhara.’ Ankhuta replied. ’Verhen can conjure Blade Spells. If we turn our backs on him, he’ll use us as sheaths for his sword. Give him no quarter!’
’What do we do now?’ Solus racked her brain, but aside from throwing a sucker punch or handing the Fury to Lith, there wasn’t much she could do.
’Let’s keep on playing dirty.’ Lith replied.
Doom Tide had depleted the area around him of world energy. Bloodline abilities, elemental spells, enchanted equipment, and anything that required Mogar’s essence wouldn’t work until the balance was restored.
Allegedly.
Lith had indeed failed to stop the Doom Tide, but he had used Swirling Wind to drain as much world energy as he could from the Ishara’s bloodline ability, reduce Doom Tide’s destructive power, and envelope himself in a thin layer of dense world energy.
Ankhuta and his disciples charged forward without even bothering to use their weapons, aware that without the protection of their enchantments, the Adamant blades might suffer permanent damage when clashing against Davross.
Lith, instead, held Ragnarök in his hands, following the enemy movements with his seven eyes.
’Verhen’s effort is commendable, but the fate of this fight is already sealed.’ Ankhuta pointed out the many flaws in Lith’s guard to his disciples via the mind link. ’Take him down!’
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