Chapter 695: Coordination (2/2)

“Will they not think me…” Owl said and paused.

“Think you what? An undead monster far beyond anyone’s imagination?” Ilea asked.

The being looked her way. “I wouldn’t have said it that way.”

“Hah, don’t worry. Everyone will be blown away by Meadow and Aki. With them around, you won’t stand out as much,” Ilea said. “Plus my friends are pretty used to ridiculous beings at this point. Not so sure about the rest of the councils, but they’ll be fine.”

“I hope so,” Owl said.

They reached the cube and found it covered near entirely in stone. More or less smooth with dozens of markings scratched in. Steel plates, glass spheres, various gems, and a set of mirrors were all placed above or within the added layer.

“Alright, everyone’s here then,” Iana said, Aki floating in the air while holding both of the enchanters in his hands. “Owl, Ilea, familiarize yourselves with the marked sections. We noted the various elements you’ll have to use and in what way.”

Ilea floated around the cube, her dominion picking up every marked section, each with its own set of instructions. For her, arcane, space, and heat. Verena would help with the latter but one was specifically marked for her beam, a circle at the center of one of the sides.

“How long are we talking exactly?” Ilea asked, not having seen any mentions of time.

“All needs to happen within one point four seconds. That is if the first eighteen enchantments are destroyed simultaneously, otherwise we’re working with zero point six seconds in total. Based on everything we see and understand. In case something goes wrong or anything in the mesh causes a chain reaction, I suggest you get us out of here as fast as you can,” Iana explained.

Ilea carefully checked the sections. “And how will I know if something goes wrong?”

“You will know,” the woman answered.

I don’t think you understand how many high level spells I’ve seen. She didn’t voice the thought, assuming that if any defensive measures get activated, their intrusion had failed.

“This won’t be easy…” Ilea mused, setting up large ash spheres that hovered in the air around the cube. Each changed into a symbol related to the magic they had to use. “Owl, what do you think?”

The Lich still floated around the cube. “I can hit everything on this side… and here,” she said and teleported. “That still leaves three enchantments where I won’t be able to reach.”

Ilea used Fabric Tear to move the being. “Seems to work fine. So where exactly do I have to put you?”

Owl floated into position and aimed. “Here is good.”

“Verena?” Ilea asked.

“I’ll need one teleport to here,” the woman replied, floating on the other side of the cube.

Ilea spent another few minutes setting up her spheres, now moving them close to where the impacts had to happen. She could feel the location of her ash, knew the form it took. Spheres were added to the teleport locations where she would have to put her two teammates after their first two barrages. “Just a wave of space magic fine?”

“Yes,” Iana said. “Enough to disturb the fields in place. For you, not a lot.”

“I see,” Ilea mused and finished her setup. “Let’s try a few times without spells.”

“And let’s do it like this. We count one to five, two and four being the teleports. Roughly one second in total,” she said to the group.

“Understood,” Verena replied and appeared in her position.

Owl gave her a nod and did the same.

“Can we add a count before it starts too?” the Lich asked.

“Makes sense, so one two three, then one through five,” Ilea replied.

Both confirmed as most of the others made some distance. Aki remained with the two enchanters, ready to leave before they would go with the actual attempt.

Ilea started counting and they all did their thing.

“I messed up two of the gates,” Ilea murmured.

“Can you teleport me about half a meter further right and up?” Verena asked.

A few of the ashen spheres were moved before they tried again.

The group repeated the preparation another twenty times before they felt comfortable with their positioning.

___________________

Iana watched the next thirty attempts with bated breath, the two high level humans and the Lich repeating the section to memorize their targets.

“What do you think?” Christopher asked.

She didn’t reply for a few seconds, instead focused on the three beings teleporting through space. One second.

“I would think it impossible,” she said. “But if anybody has a chance, it’s those three.”

A group of thirty high level mages would’ve been ideal but the more people involved, the harder it would be to coordinate.

“It’s worth an attempt at least,” Chris said.

“We’ve got the targets down, I think,” Ilea said straight into their minds. “Working on the timings now.”

Iana gulped. If any of the enchantments were damaged even a fraction of a second before planned, the whole thing would blow up. On the one hand, she really wanted to see how the defensive enchantments measured up against something Claire or the Meadow could set up. On the other, she really wanted to know what was inside the so called Soul Forge. The Shades were certainly interested enough.

“You know we won’t see the explosion. All we’ll see is defensive spells and burning ash,” Chris said.

“Ruining the fun,” she murmured. “Aki, get us to the others.”

“As you wish, Enchantress,” the dagger said and moved them through the air. He landed a few seconds later near the waiting group, Bralin already preparing a defensive perimeter with runed stone.

“Let’s add our own,” she said to Christopher and got to work.

Ten minutes later, everything was ready.

“Aight, got the timing down too. As best as we’ll ever be,” Ilea said. “Well, maybe not, but I want to crack this thing.”

“Go ahead,” Iana answered, her and Chris looking through their binoculars.

She held her breath, seeing a shimmering purple form in the distance, left of the cube. To its right side flew a winged being of white flame, and to the front, a humanoid clad in fire.

“Ready?” Ilea asked, her voice reaching them still.

“One two…” the count came, fast enough to fit five beats into one second.

Iana watched as beams of magic lit up in the distance, a light show of purple, white, turquoise, and fiery red. The angles changed within split seconds. And then it was over.

“Did they do it?” Pierce asked, looking through the slit in the enchanted stone wall ahead.

“Cube has calmed down. Magic output is much lower,” Ilea sent.

Iana breathed out and put down her looking glass. “They did it…”

Chris jumped up in joy before he hugged her.