Supreme Magus

laccid bodies were unable to sustain without constantly assimilating world energy.

A third body would make them weaker rather than stronger. It would increase the energy expenditure without giving the creature any advantage. To sort out the best parts it would take time and time was of the essence.

All that mana flying through the room forced the puppeteer who was controlling the creatures to stop the vortexes, to prevent their creatures from sucking up random spells and self-destructing.

’Well, well, well. This time not only do I have to use half baked pawns, but they are also made of trash materials. This should make things interesting. ’ The puppeteer was actually grateful for Jirni ’s tactical choice.

Secrecy made things go much smoother, but after kidnapping Manohar, finesse was a waste of time. They could finally have some fun after months of boredom.

The soldiers were all veterans who had been debriefed about all the enemy ’s known weaknesses and abilities. They kept their distance while using water spells to freeze and slow down their enemies.

Without the vortex and with their spells constantly interrupted the Carpenters had only two choices: to stop and fight or keep marching forward and be decimated. Faced with an impossible choice, the puppeteer had the creatures closer to the soldiers activate their vortices.

It poisoned them, but at the same time, it jammed all the nearby magical tools and allowed the other creatures to safely assimilate world energy and regain their vigor. Three Carpenters fell to the ground as their first mana core collapsed due to mana poisoning.

Thanks to their sacrifice, the remaining nine each reached a soldier and ripped them to shreds with the giant talons on their deformed limbs. Jirni immediately understood that the enemy was fighting a battle of attrition that she would surely lose.

The creatures on the front line were once again jamming the alchemical tools while the three fallen Carpenters stood up the moment their second mana core activated and used the dying soldiers to replace the lost one.

It took just over a second to switch from one core to the other, but on the battlefield, it was half a second too long. As soon as three more creatures collapsed after having lost their core, Tista struck them with a volley of Plague Arrows.

Darkness magic was slow, but fast enough to hit the creatures before they recovered. With the crowd gone, she was finally able to take action while Dorian got those who were still paralyzed by fear to safety.

Her spell ate through their flesh and corrupted the energies that kept their makeshift bodies together. Three Carpenters were down due to mana poisoning, while three more were helpless because of the Plague Arrows.

With their numbers reduced to half, the rhythm of the enemy ’s attack was disrupted long enough to allow the soldiers to retreat and regroup.

Lith exploited the temporary ceasefire to jump into the middle of the creatures ’ formation and activate the Death Call spell he had cast earlier. Fire couldn ’t be used in such an enclosed space, there was no earth to manipulate, and water magic had proven to be ineffective.

Tista ’s darkness spell, instead, worked like a charm, leaving Lith yet again in doubt about what kind of magic could give the Carpenters life.

’Are they a cross between undead and flesh or is just darkness magic that good? ’ He thought.

After his fight with the orcs, Lith had modified the spell to make it more effective at close range. Instead of tentacles, the layer of darkness surrounding his body took the form of four arms that clawed at the nearby monsters like ravenous beasts.