Chapter 4268: Guiding Hand (Part 2)

"Because this time my role will be different." Menadion walked up to Solus until their bodies overlapped.

Solus’ features shifted into her mother’s and back nonstop, highlighting how similar yet different the two women were. Black veins ran across Solus’ body, carrying Menadion’s experience and will.

"I will guide my daughter’s hand." Menadion’s voice came out of Solus’ mouth. "I’ll stand by her side and teach her as I’ve always dreamed to. My Demon form can’t use Invigoration without burdening Lith, while Solus’ core is too weak to sustain the technique they have created.

"Yet if we combine our skills and cores, we can make up for what the other lacks. Solus will lead, but I’ll advise her and lend her the strength she still misses. Also, I will guide and teach Lith through the bonds the three of us share."

"I’ll take care of Faluel, instead." Valia said. "Her master-Harbinger relationship with Friya will allow me to instruct them both about Lith’s intentions so that they can help him to the best of their skills."

"I can see where this is going, and the answer is no." Quylla said. "No offense, but I won’t let any of you three give me a special embrace."

"Tell them, honey!" Morok yelled from above.

"That was never the idea." Trion managed to blush up his ears even in his Demon form. "Ripha is special because of her relationship with Solus. The rest of us will just merge with your shadows to provide you with directions and mana if needed.

"I’m assigned to Dawn, since she is weaker than Lady Yaga but shares a deep bond with her."

"We do, and from so up close there is no barrier between our minds unless we wish so." The Horseman nodded for him to continue.

"Locrias will fuse with Quylla’s shadow and Varegrave with Lady Fyrwal’s. Without us, a prolonged mind link would expose poison your mana cores and compromise your abilities."

"I’m already familiar with Lith’s technique, and I can empower myself with Vital Storm or recover my strength with Swirling Wind whenever I want." Tista explained.

"That sounds about right." Fyrwal nodded, feeling the effortless connection with Lith and the extra mana reserve that the connection with the Demon bestowed upon her. "When do we start?"

"In a moment." Lith shapeshifted into his Tiamat form and took more deep breaths. "As I told you before, this will be like nothing we have ever done."

Silvery flames shrouded his membranous wings, slowly expanding to the energy wings and then to the feathered ones.

Once he was done, Lith activated the basic Forgemastering circle and stored the magical formations he would later need inside the Mouth and the Hearth.

A thin blue line of mana formed at the center of the Adamant Forge, which quickly expanded into a magic circle that drew in the world energy and sealed it within its confines.

As the density of world energy within the circle increased, the glaive and the power core began to float in mid-air, orbiting each other like twin stars. The two spun faster and closer until they touched.

The world energy channeled by the glaive rejected Lith’s mana that formed the power core, pushing it away and starting their dance anew. With each clash, however, the power core absorbed part of the glaive’s energy and grew in size.

Lith used the Mana Injector and the Hands to charge the magic circle until the air within started to crackle with bursts of world energy that the magical formation was unable to contain.

The constant flow of world energy flooded the Adamant of the glaive and the mana crystals studded on its surface, replenishing what the power core took away with every interaction.

The amplification process continued until the energy accumulated within the power core matched the glaive’s.

Lith expanded his arms, switching the magic circle with another filled with both world energy and mana, and conjured a second array that encompassed the nine Forgemasters.

The copies of the Fury immediately burst with a bright violet aura, and jolts of mana arched across their Davross’ heads.

’How is Lith doing thi-’

’Be quiet.’ Varegrave cut Quylla short. ’There will be time for questions later. Now focus on the job at hand.’

"On my mark." Lith said. "Mark!"

He swung his hammer, followed by his friends and allies.

Images of how much energy they had to use and what kind of imperfections would arise in which area of the power core in the wake of the impact flashed before the Forgemasters’ eyes.

The nine blows sang a silvery choir and released flashes of light so strong that they would have blinded the spectators on the ground floor if not for the Forge’s ceiling turning dull long enough to shield their eyes.

Bumps and indentations appeared exactly where the vision had predicted, but it was no prophecy, just knowledge acquired by Lith and Solus from their previous attempts to Forgemaster the glaive.

More images appeared in the minds of the Forgemasters, showing them which imperfections each one of them was supposed to fix and the best way to do it. The force they had to put in their arm, how much mana to infuse in their hammer, and the angle to achieve the perfect blow.

As the nine mages struck a second time, Lith released a burst of Dread Flames that engulfed the magic circle. The silvery fire would have scared the Forgemasters if Lith hadn’t warned them and assured them it wouldn’t harm them.

The Dread Flames washed over the room like a gust of hot wind, dealing no damage to the tower or the people within it. Yet everyone’s eyes went wide in surprise when the silvery mist faded and their vision cleared.

The power core was back to being perfect, a glowing sphere of energy that was now partly fused with the glaive.

The copies of the Fury were already brimming with power again, and despite the sheer focus and effort required by the first two blows, the Forgemasters experienced little burden on their bodies.

’I think I know what’s happening here.’ Baba Yaga felt the world energy ebb from her body slowly, leaving behind only what she could safely absorb.

"Again." Another burst of information and Dread Flames accompanied the third blow.

Everyone knew what they had done wrong until that moment, and if they had to infuse more or less power in their hammer than they previously had. The nine Forgemasters followed the instructions with almost the same accuracy despite the wide gap in skill, experience, and raw talent between them.

The group was a heterogeneous bunch of old and young, yet the result was shocking nonetheless. The power core had moved deeper into the glaive, and the number of imperfections that appeared after each blow was far smaller than what even Baba Yaga was used to.

With the clear instruction everyone received and another flare of Dread Flames, fixing those small mistakes was child’s play.

"I don’t understand." Morok asked. "Ever since I learned about the tower, I’ve helped Lith to Forgemaster several pieces, but things never went so smoothly.

"Between fixing the imperfections and the power that a single hammer blow requires, reaching this point should have taken much longer and at least a couple of uses of Invigoration."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.