Chapter 3296 Rising Core (Part 1)
Chapter 3296 Rising Core (Part 1)
An eight-man unit of Wood Golems charged at the hybrid from the front while another moved from the back, each construct reshaping its four arms into axes.
A horizontal swing of Ragnarök pruned the several extended limbs while nine tower-sized hammers knocked down as many Golems. Stone gloves with blades coming out of them covered the hybrid's free hands.
The creature used the blades to defend themselves while they drew a deep breath and released a barrage of Primordial Flames from their body so violent that it pushed the Golems several dozens of meters back, making their feet dig meters-deep trenches in the ground.
Some of the axes reached their mark and opened deep wounds on the hybrid's body but they healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. The Yggdrasill constructs regenerated even faster, but that didn't reassure the World Tree one bit.
Not only had the hybrid survived the assault of sixteen Golems, but also the creature had become stronger after healing whereas once fully repaired the constructs had just gone back to their peak strength.
'It's not some kind of Invigoration. The World Tree realized while studying the hybrid with Soul Vision. "That thing is recovering while also pushing beyond the bright violet by the second. How is that possible?'
Nothing in the archives compiled by generations of Yggdrasills answered such a question.
The Golems divided themselves into two lines, one defensive and the other offensive, circling their prey with perfect coordination to create an opening. Even with two minds, the hybrid still had only one head and could only focus in one direction.
Bolts of lightning emerged from the creature's body, reaching the fringes of the violet aura emanating from the hybrid before dissipating.
The World Tree sighed in relief when Soul Vision confirmed to them it wasn't Life Maelstrom just to choke on that thought.
Sure, the lightning bolts were white instead of silvery but it was still there. Deep white streaks covered the parts of the violet aura where the lightning had struck. On top of that, the edges of the hybrid's aura now flared white with growing intensity.
When the Golems launched their second assault, a second jolt of white energy crossed the creature's aura, going from their body to the white-hot edges. Another white burst. replaced part of the bright violet and the hybrid's strength surged of another notch. The creature spun on itself in a whirlwind of blades and hammers, sending the Golems reeling back from the impacts. The bone spike on the end of the hybrid's tail was covered in razor-sharp stone and had joined the onslaught.
The constructs had suffered more damage during the new clash whereas the creature had come out unscathed. Even worse, before the Golems could get back to their feet, a third stream of lightning painted most of the hybrid's aura deep white, making both factions stop for a second to stare at the scene.
How could Lith reach the white during the battle?' Gentor the Golde Dragon thought, and he wasn't the only one. Even if he did, why did his body develop faster than his aura? Where is the pillar that is supposed to come with the enlightenment?"
'What's going on?' Menadion's Demon body had suddenly reformed itself and had already gained its third eye. 'Where is my set of armaments and why are we still-Great Mother almighty!"
The disappearance of the Menadion Set didn't worry her as much as the fact that even after escaping the range of the space-compressing arrays Solus showed no intention of retreating.
"We're not running away, World Fucker." The hybrid said with two voices that sounded like the grinding of stones. "We're not going to give you the time to plot against us again. This ends now!"
The ground of the Fringe shook and the sky rumbled as the creature roared in fury.
A fourth jolt of lightning turned their aura fully deep white and the sandstorm around them intensified.
Lith's mana and life force mended Solus' wounds, regenerating the floors of the tower where her vital essence was stored. From there, the world energy entered the tower and reconnected the artifact with its debris.
As the tower rebuilt itself, it shared part of its power with Lith to protect him and make him stronger.
This in turn hastened Solus' healing process and left the tower more energy to repair its floors. First, those destroyed by the World Tree and then those eroded during the centuries spent without a host.
The energy flowed from Lith to Solus, from Solus to the tower, and from the tower to Lith in an endless cycle.
It wasn't the first time it happened but never before the being resulting from the fusion of the tower and its masters had access to the complete Menadion Set, let alone unlocked.
The Hands drew massive amounts of world energy that the Ears channeled through the mana pathways of the tower without wasting one iota of it. At the same time, the Mouth weaved the collected energy into Forgemastering repair arrays.
The tower was no Awakened and had no access to Invigoration, but the combined effect of the three pieces of Menadion Set produced the next best thing.
The black and silver of the Voidwalker armor mixed with the white and gold of the
tower, forming a thick full suit of armor that covered the hybrid from horn to toe talon. 'So this is the Anvil of Menadion. Lith recognized the armor from Solus' memories. 'The sixth hidden piece of Menadion Set.'
'More like the sum of the other five, Fury included. Remember how in the past my stone form resembled one arm protector and then split into two?' She asked and Lith nodded. 'It must have happened because the tower retained a few runes of the Anvil but missed the full blueprint.'n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
'Which we have now.' Lith completed the phrase for her. 'It would be a fine addition, but who needs an Anvil when you can have the Engine?"
The tower reshaped itself around its masters as it took its battle form, creating an enchanted exoskeleton. It still had all the powers of the Prime Engine and the complete, unlocked Menadion Set, making the armored form of the hybrid reach 50 meters (164') of
height.
'Grow as much as you want." The World Tree weaved several Tower Tier spells to avoid them being Dominated and had the two units of Golems prepare anti-Guardian spells. 'It's just one more tower and I can deal with it like I'm doing with the rest.
Except the Yggdrasil didn't.
Before they could finish the thought, the hybrid enveloped the sword in their black-scaled right hand and the hammer in their golden-scaled left hand into two
spheres of light.
As the creature brought the spheres together, the Eyes studied the two weapons, the Ears their mana flow, the Mouth conjured the necessary spells, and the Hands fueled
them.
The combined effects of the Workshop, the Library, the Factory, and the Heart adapted the enchantments of the tower meant to adjust the size of the Fury for the Prime Engine
to Ragnarök.
Gold-veined white marble and parts of the materials stored on the various floors of the tower coated Double Edge, expanding it into an almost exact replica of the angry blade that suited the armored hybrid's size.