Several more blasts of thunder echoed for several minutes, until Carciem decided to take a break and quickly consult the magic circle that had appeared around his left wrist.
Looking down, he watched as the thin line circling around three-quarters of his wrist slowly faded with each passing second; visually representing the amount of mana he could still use in his body before the flying spell wore off.
Originally, the use of flight magic was already limited in time to a handful of minutes; but the use of Sarmawyn and the communication stones had greatly reduced that time of use because of the mana used to summon lightning, or send messages.
If his estimate was correct, he could still hover for five, or maybe seven minutes at most.
However, if the brute force he had used, and the rest of his plan went as planned, he would still have enough mana to continue the fight.
Touching the stone he had placed in his uniform pocket with his hand, a blue glow began to radiate.
"All units, change elemental spells to fire!" He ordered. "Full power!"
"Roger that!" Finn replied through the stone.
Several miles away, the command tent was abuzz with activity.
Not only was it used to monitor the progress of the operation in several different locations, but it was also the nerve center for all communications.
The big downside of the communications stones was that they had a limited range, and over long distances, they had to work in pairs. In addition to the three Quartermasters General, each unit had one of the two stones, with the second one currently sitting on the wooden rack where dozens of others were also lined up.
The role of Finn and Doloresse was therefore crucial, as they had to relay long-distance communications quickly and efficiently.
Withdrawing his hand from the stone assigned to Carciem Balgoranth, Finn placed both hands on two different stones, closely followed by Doloresse. Four stones began to glow with a bluish light, a sign that contact had been made, and they repeated the command that had been transmitted.
Clear affirmations came back to them, a sign that the communication had reached its multiple recipients.
The two Sergeants withdrew their hands, Doloresse already sighing with fatigue.
The young woman was not yet used to the continuous use of mana, unlike Finn, who had been at this task longer than her.
"You should take a tonic," Finn advised her.
"No, I'll be fine," Doloresse replied quickly, sweeping the air with her hand.
The young man stared at her for a few seconds out of the corner of his eye, before returning his attention to the stones lined up in front of them.
One of them turned blue, and Finn put his hand on it.
"The creature still doesn't seem to be suffering any damage, should we continue?" A voice spoke up.
Another stone turned blue, and this time Doloresse put her hand on it.
"This is the group of mages from Bergamme, do we have permission to use higher spells?" Asked a new voice.
"One moment please," replied Doloresse.
She looked up questioningly at Finn, the latter being slightly taller than her.
"Let's make sure we get confirmation from the other two Quartermasters General," he said, nodding.
He placed his hand on a stone underneath which was labeled 'Rudd Marxiem', and Doloresse mimicked him by placing her other hand on the one labeled as 'Felicia Axtriès'.
"This is the command center, we are receiving reports that the current attack power is not sufficient, can you confirm?" Asked Finn.
A few minutes passed, probably the time it took for the two Quartermasters General to contact all the troops that were in their immediate vicinity, and then Rudd and Felicia's answers reached them almost at the same time.
It was the same in both areas of attack: the creature continued to move inexorably forward, oblivious to the magic spells being sent its way.
Finn placed his hand on the stone reserved for his superior, and gave him his report.
Carciem listened carefully, hearing the sounds of battle from the forest below him, and also seeing columns of smoke rising to the east and south.
Even with Sarmawyn's power, he wasn't sure he had succeeded in breaching the rock plates; though the appearance of the strange liquid body was disrupted at times by the pillars of lightning striking them head-on.
Nevertheless, his goal was still not to directly harm the creature.
"Authorization for higher fire magic spells, up to maximum rank!" He ordered.
"Copy that, maximum rank!" He heard Finn reply.
A few seconds passed, and huge tornadoes of fire appeared to the east and south.
"Troops on the ground, stand aside!" he ordered as he adjusted his position in the air.
The soldiers who had resumed their attack several minutes ago took cover under the trees, clearing a large perimeter around the rift through which the creature's snake-like back was still slithering in the open.
Carciem lowered Sarmawyn, but this time chose to use a fire spell as well.
Raising his free hand into the air, a reddish glow emanated from the palm of his hand facing the sky and the sun, before a spear of flame suddenly appeared.
The heat wave from the long pillar of flame made Carciem's skin redden and his lips and eyes dry up.
However, he would not have to endure these trying conditions for long, for already he was pointing the tip of that spear made of fierce flames at the open crack in the ground. Then, he bent his arm backwards, before arching it forward with force.
The spear of flames left his hand and flew with incredible speed towards the ground, and at the very moment that its tip made contact with the creature, the projectile exploded, shooting flames everywhere.
However, these flames were not meant to dissipate. On the contrary, they continued to burn brightly and grow in size, so much so that the stone of the creature's shell began to glow like white-hot metal in the extreme heat.
Carciem looked to the south, and saw that the tornadoes of flame were also growing in intensity, which meant that the plan was proceeding as planned. Then he looked again at his left wrist. The line forming a glowing bracelet around it had drastically reduced, with only a quarter of its length visible.
Only two minutes left, right?
That was more than enough time.
Putting his hand on the communication stone again, he gave a new order.
"All units on the ground, fall back to higher ground!"
The order reached Finn and Doloresse, who relayed it to all the other groups on the ground, and he could see that the ground unit just below was regrouping to a nearby hill. Everyone was safe.
Now it was time for action, and he gave his next order to the people he had so far ignored.
"Terraforming group, your turn!"
The tremors that had hitherto been reverberating through the forests and mountains redoubled in intensity, and as they reached an unimaginable frequency, a great thud of explosion ran through the land and air; preceded by a violent gust of wind tilting and crushing in the same direction grasses and shrubs, and shaking the foliage of the trees that stood still and upright.
A continuous roar followed the mass of air, becoming more and more imposing and terrifying; making the birds fly away into the sky, and the animals that were not on the heights flee on all fours.
"It's coming!" thought Carciem.
Even though he could barely see it with all the trees obscuring the view, the chaos it was causing in its path was enough to announce its arrival.
"As soon as it hits, concentrate all available firepower!" He ordered with the communication stone.
The vile noise came even closer, and the sudden humidity in the air left no doubt in Carciem's mind: the wave was here, and in a few seconds it would hit the monster head-on.