Alistair gradually returned to his human size and released Ada, who immediately collapsed into the puddle of their combined fluids.
"Rest for a bit. I'm going to see how Dilba and Rie are doing," Alistair said, reverting to his 'Steel Man' persona. He opened a portal and stepped out.
As he emerged into the night air, he noticed a shimmering 'curtain' blocking out the sky.
"A targeted barrier? They must have found something troublesome if they had to go this far," Alistair mused. He walked to the edge of the barrier and poked it. It rippled like water but didn't stop him. Targeted barriers only affect those they are programmed to trap.
"Based on the intel, it was supposed to be three spirits. But Dilba and Rie shouldn't be struggling this much. There must be a fourth party involved."
Alistair shouldered Nightfall and followed the sound of explosions.
Slash!
Dilba swung her sword, cleaving a waist-high 'frog' in two. However, the creature didn't bleed; instead, the two halves regenerated into two separate frogs.
"These things are annoying. They just keep multiplying!" Dilba kicked a frog away in disgust and blasted it with a spell, to no effect. "Rie, this is your specialty! Deal with them!"
"It's not regeneration," Rie said, her giant scissors snipping several frogs into confetti. "There's a nasty Abyss Mana inside them. Their magic resistance is off the charts."
"You're a Dark Elf General and you can't handle a few frogs?" Rie teased.
"We don't have many people left! I specialize in shadow and mental magic, which is useless against these brainless drones!" Dilba grumbled.
The frogs were bizarre. They had the traits of spirits but the physical bodies of humans—stitched together like some macabre experiment.
Thud... thud... thud...
Heavy footsteps approached. Even the tireless frogs stopped their assault to look toward the source. A ten-foot-tall armored giant emerged from the shadows.
"Alistair, you're here," Rie breathed a sigh of relief. "The area is clear. You don't need to hide."
"What the hell are these?" Alistair asked, staring at the three large 'Alpha' frogs. They were grotesque—meat-colored, stitched together, and one had three eyes, another three legs, and the last, three tongues.
"Bio-engineered spirits with human flesh," Dilba explained.
Alistair looked at them and felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of familiarity. Since his breakthrough, his intuition was a reliable tool. If he felt he knew this mana, he must have crossed paths with the creator before.
Who could it be?
"Wulululu~"
The three-tongued frog's mouth undulated, and it spat out a long, slimy iron chain.
"That's the artifact you're looking for," Dilba noted, surprised. "Why did it just give it up? Do you know the person controlling them?"