Those were the moments when Lith would have loved Mogar to be like a video game. That way, before consuming Invigoration, he could safely go down on HP and MP to maximize its effects.
Real life, however, was quite different. Injuries drained his stamina, which in turn slowed his reflexes down, making him an easier target. On top of that, low mana also meant having a splitting headache, blurred vision, and difficulty concentrating.
Even though he was right above a mana geyser, his natural world energy absorption rate wasn’t enough to allow him fighting a Golem after so few minutes of rest. At least under normal circumstances.
’Solus, I need to delegate a few things to you to save as much energy as possible. We don’t know how long we’ll be trapped down here, so Invigoration is our lifeline. I want Phloria, Quylla, and Yondra to survive, in this order of importance.
’The rest of the group are just expendable pawns.’ He thought.
Solus didn’t like that Lith placed Phloria above Quylla. They were both supposed to be just his friends, yet he seemed to value her more despite her lesser talent. Solus didn’t object though, she just mind-nodded for him to continue.
’The moment we engage the enemy, I need you to scan the Golem for any form of communication device. Golems can talk, but maybe they can also share their vision or thoughts with their kin and masters.
’Based on the results of your analysis, I can greatly improve our odds of survival.’
Life Vision flickered in his eyes, Lith kept it active only long enough to check both the Golem’s position and where the array’s borders were.
’Okay, stop.’ Solus thought when he was about to turn around a corner. ’We’re close enough that my senses can display their maximum proficiency. Give me a second.’
Solus had to admit that without Phloria their situation would have been much worse. Thanks to their work on runes during the last few days, the three of them had written a small rune dictionary.
It allowed Solus to instantly recognize the old runes of which they knew the modern equivalent. Without it, she wouldn’t be able to even guess how the Flesh Golems were enchanted.
’There is some kind of communication device, but it’s only linked to its ears and human mouth. They can’t share their vision.’ Solus said.
Lith checked that all members of the expedition were still in front of the elevator before shapeshifting into his hybrid form. Its claws were nothing compared to the Gatekeeper, but now that his prized weapon was lost, they were an invaluable tool.
The Flesh Golem had just reached the fringes of the Earth Blocking array and was about to report its findings when suddenly an invisible force pulled it inside the array as a Hush enveloped its mouth.
It could speak, cast spells, but no sound would escape its throat, leaving whoever was listening on the other side of the communicator in the dark. The moment the Golem stepped inside the array it was over.
Its limbs went limp as the magical formation sealed both the earth magic the construct needed to move and all of its dimensional spells, communication included. Lith was waiting in ambush behind a corner, using in combination his own claws, Solus’s, and the Orichalcum to reach its power core before the Golem could react.
The creature tried to unleash his full power in bolts of lightning all around itself, using the metal walls to prevent its enemy from avoiding the area of effect of its attack. Alas, Solus had placed a very small yet perfectly functional Air Blocking array on Lith’s hunting spot.
The wasted mana only made it easier for Lith to kill his prey in a single lunge.
’When earth fails them, they always go for air. Yurial, you truly were a moron. Arrays aren’t useless. A single one can turn an invincible construct into a pile of scrap.’ Lith thought.
\u003c "Beware..."\u003e The Golem who had once been a young brown-haired man said Lith with the last strength he had left. His eyes were full of gratitude and tears of joy. Finally his pain had come to an end, but he had no time to waste with thanks.
Now that he was free from the slave enchantment, he wanted to help his savior with his last breath.
\u003c..."of the green array. Destroy Reactor first. The..."\u003e The man inwardly cursed. Even using the least amount of words he could while still making sense, one breath was too little to convey his message.
Without the Golem, once his lungs were empty, he had no way of filling them again. He moved his lips, mouthing the last words with what strength he had left. Unfortunately, Lith had no idea how he could understand a long dead language, let alone how the unknown words were spelled.
The man died between Lith’s arms, turning the joy of his victory into an odd sort of grieving. The youth was barely younger than Lith was when he had taken his own life. Like him, the youth had suffered an unjust fate from which there was no escape.
Yet, the young man had never given up, fighting until the last second to do what he believed was right.
Lith moved the corpse away from the hunting spot with spirit magic, giving it a bow as a thank you before using darkness magic to destroy every trace of flesh until the man was free and only the machine was left.
’All the spells engraved on the Golem have faded. No transmission was sent during the ambush.’ Solus thought. ’Yet it’s possible that the moment you brought it inside the array, it was perceived as "dead". Locating spells are dimensional spells as well, so Neshal’s array interrupted its signal.
’Even better.’ Lith thought. ’I’m far from the camp and if more Golems come, I can take them down.’
The ambush had consumed only a small part of Lith’s energy, he still had no need of using Invigoration. A second Golem Warped on his comrade last known position, falling into spirit magic’s clutches.
"Beware of the green array. Destroy Reactor first. The...?" Lith said, hoping that the young woman grafted in the second Golem could understand him and that she was willing to help him as well.
’I can’t let her waste her last breath telling me what I already know. I must stay one step ahead.’ He thought.
She looked at Lith with a puzzled look. Death wasn’t the best thing to clear someone’s head.
\u003c "Oh!"\u003e She said when his words finally made sense. \u003c "The basement. Go there. Thank...."\u003e
A single word wasn’t enough to explain the rest to her savior. The young woman used the last of her strength to express her gratitude and stare at the floor. Even in death, her gaze guided Lith somewhere on his far right, like a beacon.
’So there is more than one underground floor and the good stuff is further below.’ Lith waited that Solus had approximatively calculated where the woman’s eyes were pointing at before giving her mangled flesh peace.
A wisp of light came out from the darkness his spell had generated, passing through Lith’s hybrid body before shooting towards the sky.
’Was that her soul?’ Solus was flabbergasted. ’Did she really refuse to leave until being certain that she had passed her message to you?’
’She was a brave woman.’ Lith said. A single drop of water streamed down his right temple. A blue eye was now open.