"Hmph!" With a grunt Ivan released a barrage of needles from his hand. Though they were quickly intercepted as an assortment of tree roots grew from cracks in the floor and formed a defensive wall in front of Ehit.
*KABOOM*
What Ehit didn't know was that the needles weren't aimed for him, the incendiary compound contained in each needle exploded upon contact and engulfed the wall of roots in flames.
A strong wind bellowed that almost immediately put the fire out, most definitely something conjured by the wind aspect attuned to the fake god's new body.
*SWISH!*
But behind that wall of burnt tree roots came shooting out a beautiful feline whose claws seemed dead set on attacking Ehit's left arm.
Noticing her intent Ehit snorted before snapping his left hand, the lightning coiling around his arm compounding to his fingertips and shot forward in a beam-like fashion.
Unable to dodge without losing her momentum mid air Felis used her surprisingly durable tail to anchor herself to nearby rubble, successfully pulling herself down from the air and only barely getting out of the way from the concentrated beam of lighting.
Things headed toward a worse direction as the sky above them crackled with the same intensity. All before promptly flashing and screeching as a jagged piece of the thunder descended toward the group quicker than one could blink.
Thankfully Yue had anticipated such an attack the moment those thunder clouds first appeared. Enhancing her body several times she was able to sharpen her response time, albeit only for a brief moment.
But that's all it took for her to summon her shield less than a millisecond before the thunder struck.
"Hallowed Ground!"
The spell which had often protected the group without a scratch on it showed signs of waning against the strength of a single thunder strike.
It being a thunder strike, it lasted for only a second before dissipating.
Eager to not allow Ehit another opportunity to launch such a devastating attack again, Tio held both hands in front of her and casted the spell she had been holding.
"Soul Shock!"
Looking at Ehit, it was obvious elemental spells weren't going to be any effective in this scenario. As such she targeted his soul directly.
Ehit's hand which had been ascending to summon another thunder strike trembled in the air as it instead went to hold his head.
This was the effect of one of Tio's favorite spells. Soul Shock, as the name implied, bypassed all defenses and targeted the soul directly. The downside being that it only affected the target momentarily and was easily shaken off by those with strong mental defenses.
Ehit being the pinnacle of what a soul could be in this world met the latter requirement with natural maturity after the couple millenia he's been surveying the world.
So unfortunately the effects of Soul Shock only lasted a single second before he stared at Tio whilst grinding his teeth in rage.
Out of all his elemental strengths it was his control over lighting and thunder that put the group on edge the most. Both its quickness and strength was nothing they could scoff at. And seeing as how Ehit had an arm completely radiating the phenomenon, they concluded that if they got rid of the arm they'd also disable his ability to control that element.
The problem was what to do when said limb was removed. Ehit had completely transformed into something resembling a monster, his natural regenerative abilities could have been instantaneous for all they knew.
And even if that were the case Ehit still had Restoration Magic on his side. He'd simply be able to regrow the arm if he were given enough time. Though the fake body that served as the basis of his new form should affect his affinity enough so that such a surgical miracle should take at least half an hour.
Enough time for Ivan and friends to kill the fake god should he decide not to run away when such an event occurs.
[Tio, about now seems to be the time where you show off that special move you inherited.]
At this rate Ivan foresaw things leading to a stalemate. For now things were a stalemate, but Ehit had one element he had yet to use, and that being the arm of ice on his right side.
Whether it was because it was his trump card or it was because he was being careful of Ivan's water transmutation didn't matter, what mattered was that they killed the bastard before he could do anything crazy.
His body was just a suit after all. Even if he was turned to ash or blown up into thousands of pieces his soul would remain intact. Ehit waited thousands of years for this moment, a couple hundred more to create a new plan wasn't a concern to him.
Sure he might lose Yue if he were to do a catacalisitc suicide attack, but it was better than allowing the irregular and his posse the chance to continue interfering with his plans.
Not that Ehit believed Yue would die if he were to blow up everyone along with him at the moment, she still seemed to be filled to the brim with mana. And as such she was essentially unkillable.
He could kill everyone along with himself, leaving her all alone to despair. Then he could just observe her from heaven for a couple centuries as she wallowed in her own despair. All before jumping back to the mortal realm to attempt to take over her body once more. Something he was sure he could do so long as her companions were dead.
But there was one thing stopping him from going through with that plan.
'I will not allow these mortals the satisfaction of pushing me toward a suicidal attack…'
Such a move in his eyes was no different than retreating, but that's because it was. Essentially he'd be killing himself to escape to Heaven. A notion he would heavily dismiss but acknowledge with shame deep in his heart.
*THUD THUD THUD*
Ehit broke away from his thoughts as an odd noise was resounding from behind the what he assumed to be beastman and vampire queen.
The Irregular he acknowledged was currently beating his own comrade with his own fists. His hands did not stop at all as blood dripped from her nose. And yet the dragon princess did nothing to end his abusive behavior. Instead she took each hit with an intoxicated smile on her face.
'What the hell is happening…?'
Even the god who had millennials of life experience was confused by the sight in front of him.
[A-Are you sure this'll work, Tio?!]
Ivan wasn't exactly pleased about beating someone he only recently acknowledged as his lover. But it was upon her words that he acted upon. She herself had told him that this was the key to activating the legendary skill she inherited from the progenitor of the Dragonmen.
[It's fine, master! In fact I implore you to strike me with more vigor~! The harder the better, fufufu~!]
If it weren't for the current circumstances Ivan would have just directly banished the pervert by sending her through a portal out in the middle of nowhere.
But for how perverted she was, Ivan knew she wouldn't jepordize their lives for some sexual gratification.
'Pain Conversion' A skill she awakened on her first meeting with Ivan. As the name suggested it converted pain into magical energy as well as providing a small boost to all her stats.
But even knowing that his abuse was strengthening the Dragon Princess in front of him, Ivan still felt a little reluctant,
Thankfully someone decided to break the awkward tension that now littered the whole battlefield. And that someone was the bastard god himself.
Despite turning his entire head into terrifying winds, those observing him couldn't help but feel that he was heavily frowning.
"You dare act so flippantly when I stand before you!"
What was even weirder was how his words traveled in the air despite him possessing no mouth to expel them from.
"Illusion Cage."
"Hallowed Ground!"
One voice followed another, using her Copycat skill Felis mimicked Yue's earlier spell and created a barrier to trap Ehit in. Yue on the other hand used one of her many spatial magic applications and locked the space inside the barrier directly.
Making it impossible for Ehit to simply teleport out.
What they were doing was simply buying time. A gesture they on their own decided to do without Ivan even needing to ask.
[Here, take all my mana suppliers. With this apostle core I don't really need them.]
Ivan dumped all of his mana restoring containers to Tio, not even blinking as she consumed them all the moment they left his spatial ring.
Whatever she was planning needed a vast amount of mana. A threshold she seemed to reach upon scarfing down Ivan's entire supply.
"My ancestors who lived before me, yee who brought justice and prosperity to all. Heed thine words as I carry thoust wills. The evil god before me shall be slain by my own two claws. O' Progenitor of mine, lend me your strength— Dragon God's Advent!"
The sky darkened, and all of Tortus remained still as a dragon descended from the sky and stared down at the world from the clouds.
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Phew, just about made it~! To the 12AM deadline that is. Sorry for the late chapter again. Had family over and didn't exactly want to be a neglectful host, even if it was my grandmother who invited them.
Sorry, I'm a bit tuckered out so I'll call it here. Thanks for reading as always. Make sure to have a great evening and I'll see you guys later!
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