Fire came out of all Enrico's fingers, even from the ones that were broken, as he waited for a move from either of the two in front of him.
The first Nartheis was the one with four arms who moved in with four punches, each covered in magic and rock encasing his hands. Enrico raised his hands, his fingers covered in fire, deflecting all four attacks. A moment later, he assumed a stance and launched a new attack that created a hole in the creature's belly. Since it didn't hit the core, it remained standing and launched four more strikes. Enrico used four Zero Impacts that shattered the rocks on the hands and launched another blow, this time creating a hole in the middle of the chest—but again, no core.
The liquid Nartheis emerged from the ground trying to restrain him with its arms, but with a charged boost, he leapt upward, creating three arrows with his bow. He fired them, forming a triangle of fire that trapped both enemies, sealing off any escape routes.
His dull eyes began to ignite, activating the crimson eyes. He felt something grab his legs and looked down to see a bit of leftover liquid. It stretched and began spinning Enrico in the air, then slammed him hard into the fire triangle, breaking it. He was met by a rock hammer that launched him upward, and before he could go any further, he was grabbed by the liquid hands of the other Nartheis, being pulled back to take another hit from the hammer.
As he was struck in the face again, Enrico used the moment to spin midair. With his head close to the ground, he used a charged boost to increase his speed and landed a kick that knocked the hammer from the four-armed one's grasp. More liquid appeared around him, but he raised both hands and released multiple fireballs that split. Immediately, he used another charged boost and mid-movement, assumed that stance.
The liquid instantly stretched into a shield and hardened. Enrico, with clenched fists, made a move that caused pressure in the air and shattered the shield. Right after, another hole was made in the four-armed Nartheis—this time hitting the core, which was just above the left rib.
Several small drops of liquid surrounded him and merged into the original Nartheis, which grew larger. Grabbing Enrico in its hand, it threw him onto several failed Elves who attacked by spitting various elements from their mouths. An explosion followed, but emerging from it wounded, Enrico held the fire bow, aiming at a small glimmer on the liquid Nartheis' leg, caused by the explosion behind him. Releasing the arrow, it quickly pierced the glowing core, defeating this Nartheis. Without stopping, he immediately dashed toward the failed Elves to continue the fight.
From afar, three fire tornadoes flung several failures away. Valença emerged from the smoke created by the tornadoes' destruction, closely followed by the hawk Nartheis surrounded by wind.
'He's much faster now'
Valença pointed her staff backward and fired a large fireball at the earthworm Nartheis sent from behind. That worm was four meters tall—it would've been hard not to see its shadow coming.
Noticing the worm burrowed into the ground, she touched her staff to the floor, preparing the incandescent ray, and completely destroyed everything below, creating a crater from which the injured worm emerged. From behind, Valença was struck by a mini tornado that pierced her skin slightly, so she spun to the side, letting it pass. From there, the hawk emerged.
'Time to test my improvement'
A fireball appeared in her hand. Concentrating a large amount of mana into it, the air around it trembled and took on reddish hues. The sphere grew to the size of a barrel, spinning rapidly in her hand with flaming cracks. As she threw it, the ball left a trail of embers in the air, colliding with the ground between the worm rising and the approaching hawk, exploding in a wave of fire that burned them both. The worm was killed, but the hawk flew away, badly wounded.
"I'll call it Cataclysm Flame…"
She raised her staff toward the hawk and fired an incandescent ray that split and burned it in half. She had to admit she thought it would be harder—I mean, she spent nearly half her mana on all of that, but still thought it would be more difficult.
'I need to think of a name for my and Enrico's combo technique'
She was thinking about the technique they used, wanting something cool like her first spell. Several failed Elves approached her, but were pushed back by fireballs falling on them from the sky. Stepping down was Enrico, who had finished off all enemies on his side. Both were injured but calm.
"Well, let's go after Lord Val'Drakar."
She stepped forward, pointing her staff at the remaining Elves, preparing to cast a spell to finish them—but suddenly she was pulled down by Enrico, who ended up on top of her for a second.
"Sorry, Maia, now's not the time for that…"
Her face was calm, but inside she had a flushed expression with a bit of embarrassment. Enrico stood up, and she noticed a slash on the tree behind where they were.
"So that's it… thank you."
He kept watching where the battle was happening, while Valença stood up with slight disappointment on her face and started observing the fight.
"He said not to interrupt Enrico."
As he was about to get involved in the battle, Valença grabbed his arm. She knew he wasn't hearing anything, but since Val'Drakar asked, she wouldn't interfere. She pointed at the approaching Elves, and immediately Enrico jumped at them to fight.
"I hope he'll be okay… and Lord Val'Drakar too."
A house-sized lizard rose, made of earth. It spat a ball of water that turned to mud and formed into a shark.
"You absorbed Tarcen's core well, partner."
Using the thinner sword, Val'Drakar made a slash that split the attack in two. This level of strike wouldn't harm him after having just gained a bit more of his power yesterday and now being a Phase Three.
"He must've given a lot of power to absorb that core so well."
He was only taking so long there because, for a few moments, he remembered the past with his companion. He closed his eyes for a second and raised both swords, touching them together.
"Double Fire Slash."
It was time to end it. As he swung both swords, the lizard was completely cut into four parts. Laflez came out of the lizard and summoned several more, ten of them the same size as the previous one. All closed their mouths at the same time. Ten mouths appeared around, as if to bite Val'Drakar, but at the last second, they opened, releasing a massive amount of magic.
"That won't work."
Grabbing both swords, he charged an attack, assuming a defensive stance. Then, several slashes appeared, not only cutting the mouths and the earth lizards, but also slicing Laflez to pieces to make sure he was destroyed.
"That can't be all he did."
Laflez's body disappeared, but he didn't lower his guard. There were no failed Elves around—everything was clear—and from afar, he saw Valença and Enrico approaching.
From a distance, Valença tried to warn him of something, and that's when he felt something pierce his chest. Looking down, he saw what looked like an earth stake. That shouldn't have been possible—he was certain he felt Laflez die and his core vanish.
"You bastards really forced me to use part of my magic to assume this body."
Laflez's shattered body began to gather around a new dark core, forming a more human shape while still resembling a lizard. Val'Drakar recognized this magic from long ago, so he knew who it was.
"Sairao."