An array of fiery runic symbols hovered around the door to the house. The seer sat in the middle, eyes closed and in a meditative position.
One by one, the runes entered the door, getting absorbed into the relic.
"Elysia… isn't she just feeding the relic more energy?"
Nox was skeptical of the random Otherworlder. After all, how could a mere awakener destroy an ancient relic capable of summoning Constellations?
As he was ready to call it quits, he felt a tug on his shirt.
"Look! It's working!" Elysia jumped in delight.
As more and more runes entered the door, it's absorption rate seemed to decrease. Finally, the last fiery pattern pierced into the building. The air around them seemed to pause as Nox widened his eyes.
"Get out-
He barely had time to drag the two girls out of the way as a mana explosion decimated the surroundings, at least, it should have.
Mana explosions were condensed implosions of mana when the object they were in couldn't contain it. Though small in size, they were lethal and could easily wipe out teams of Otherworlders. Which made it more surprising that the area they were in was untouched by the impact.
Elysia grimaced. "This means… the whole village, from the trees to the grass."
"It's a gigantic group of relics." Nox finished.
"That… was awesome!"
The red-headed Challenger exclaimed, rubbing away the dirt on her clothes. She wiped the sweat off her face and proceeded to the next building. Sitting down, she repeated the same process, as if a life-threatening attack didn't just occur.
Over the next couple of hours, the female Otherworlder destroyed dozens of houses, leaving the village looking more like a crime scene than an abandoned village.
"Is it really necessary to destroy everything? I doubt a few houses could summon a Constellation."
"Yes, Nox. Now hush and let the master do her work." She frowned at him.
'Master? We just met her.'
Though a little confused, he couldn't deny that she was great at her job. Her Divinity seemed to slowly bypass the relic, attacking its foundations.
Taking a look around the village, he spotted a suspicious statue of stone. Carved out of unpolished stone, it bore a strange resemblance to the brute he and Elysia had defeated a few days prior.
He looked at the text written underneath. Though crude and broken, he could make out the number '1'.
Another explosion erupted as Elysia systematically grabbed Ruby and placed her in front of another house, she had gotten used to this by now.
Nox got up, having gotten a crazy idea.
Curiosity got the better of him as he dove into the world of strings, he wanted to see if he could replicate the runes.
Under the curious gaze of Elysia, he slowly walked up to the meditating Challenger. After making sure the house wasn't about to blow up, he took a look at the floating flames.
'Red and orange.'
Red and orange strings were laced into each other, creating a small opening in the center where the two colors almost combined into one. As the rune flew into the grey mist of the house, he saw the smoke slowly dissipate, letting it go through.
Nox sat down, mimicking the woman. He summoned a white string, which was the pure form of energy, the one he used to enhance his body and weapons. Then, concentrating on his heart, summoned the Last Light.
It lit up in flames as it admitted a warm glow similar to the fiery runes. That, was made of orange strings.
Slowly, he tried weaving the two forms of energy together. The colors interlaced, but would never combine. All it did was make the flame larger and brighter, which wasn't what he wanted.
After a bit, he gave up and turned off his Divinity. It took a toll on his body and he didn't want to be exhausted if a monster snuck up on them.
Nox looked up to find the black-haired mage staring at his hands.
"It's just a part of my divinity, I can look into relics and stuff." He explained.
She reached into her hands, pulling out a thin necklace with a dim green jewel.
"Could you take a look at this? I found it in my pocket when we woke up. I tried looking into it, but it wouldn't work."
Taking the necklace, he was about to dive into the world of strings once more when suddenly…
A rumbling noise stole the attention of the two Otherworlders.
Something was coming.
"Quick, grab Ruby!" He told Elysia, throwing the necklace back to her.
Opal had returned to rune form, but something told him that he wouldn't be able to win the oncoming fight without her.
'Come on… I need you.'
Suddenly manifesting in the form of a pale, blue blade, she warned him.
"5 minutes. We have 5 minutes before my energy runs out."
Nox nodded as the familiar sensation gave him strength.
Nearby, a commotion was happening.
"Let me get back to it, you damned royal!" Ruby tried to shake Elysia off, crawling back near the house.
Her red eyes shone with madness, something was wrong.
"You idiot… the monsters are coming!" Elysia reluctantly harnessed the wind around them, forcibly dragging the Otherworlder and throwing her onto a tree.
Just then, the ground around them shook. Two more stone monuments broke free from the ground, revealing themselves to the duo.
'A symbol of a sword, and a staff.'
However, these ones weren't primitive and unpolished, they seemed to be in pristine condition.
Two figures revealed themselves as they emerged from the forests outside.
Having purple and red scales respectively, they resembled armored lizardmen. Like the brute, they gave off a feeling of strength and intelligence.
The lizardman with the sword slowly approached them. Glancing at the surroundings, it showed a deep frown. Then, with impressive speed, launched himself at Nox.
An azure blade clashed against a mutated, red katana as he felt himself getting pushed back.
He heard the other lizardman mutter incantations as it wrapped itself in a cloak of dark energy. Like a cannonball, he launched himself at Nox.
'That's going to hurt.' The Mythmaker braced himself for the impact that... never ended up coming.
An invisible force suddenly yanked the mage back, its reptilian eyes widening in surprise as Elysia threw him into the side of a boulder.
"Back off, lizard." She growled, hands controlling a wave of verdant energy.
The stone monuments emitted a dim glow as the battle began.