Chapter 75: The Other Side (2/2)

As she heard the caster finish his spell, she quickly reinforced her earth wall with as much mana as her contracted spirit could spare, and hunkered down with Sera. The entire world seemed to shake as dozens of explosions rocked the cavern, destroying many the stalagmites and sending shards of debris raining in every direction.

As soon as the rumbling faded, Tal was back on her feet, warily tracking the serpent demon's now sluggish movements. Evidently it had been caught in its master's attack.

”MIKE!” Sera screamed from behind her, staring worriedly at the cloud of dust that had formed near the base of the altar.

Tal laid a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulders. ”Don't worry. Still alive.”

Even though her vision was still reeling from the blow of the caster's spell, the subtle connection that had formed ever since her new title had appeared confirmed that the young man was still very much alive. She just hoped they all lived long enough to get an explanation out of him.

Watching the serpent demon already regenerating the damage it had sustained, Tal knew she had to act fast. The opportunity created by the friendly fire incident was simply too good to pass up.

The demon was too quick for the majority of her spells, and too resilient for the rest, so she would have to use a recently acquired ability. Tal concentrated on her newest pact, and brought forth the spirit of the ancient elf that now served as her eyes.

The grey colored shade was largely featureless, more of a silhouette or an outline than anything else, but its aura of easy confidence and gentle warmth reassured her.

She spoke in the Elder Tongue, ”Revered ancestor. I humbly beg you, take the promised price and aid us. Rend the mind of the beast before us, and render it an ally to our cause. Let it turn upon its former master.”

The shade seemed to hesitate, but nodded in silent acquiescence. It became even more transparent, elongating until resembled a wisp of smoke. Moving in a steady, sinuous manner it sunk into the head of the demon.

At first there didn't seem to be any effect, but after a few moments the beast halted, and shook its insectoid head as if to clear its primitive thoughts. Then, it started to shudder uncontrollably, as the battle for the control of its body started.

She sighed in relief, now that the spirit was no longer inhabiting her, the cavern was merely unpleasant, and no longer intolerable. A tingling started forming at the edges of her eyes.

A pair of hands gripped her arm, and she turned to look back at the Oracle, only to see her smiling in joy. Following her gaze Tal saw the dust had cleared from the space near the altar, revealing Mike completely unharmed by the barrage, a sphere of force surrounding him.

With a hint of a smile forming on her lips, the elf burned the sight of her defiant companion into her mind. Her vision had already started to fade, narrowing as the void seemed to eat away at its edges.

The last thing she saw before darkness engulfed her, was Mike grinning triumphantly.

”Sera, listen. Key. Stop ritual....”

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As the explosions ceased, Mike opened his eyes to see that the Salvation Stone had delivered on its initial promises.

[Holy s***, that was close. I'm glad I remembered this item at the last second. Gotta thank Kaya the next time I run into her. Now, let's see, how do I get this thing to move again?]

He felt the sphere rise into the air a bit, finding that all it took was a little mental direction. As the dust cloud settled around him, he made a few experimental moves. He realized that he could channel mana into the spell to make it move faster.

Grinning, he decided to test the full limits of this item before it was expended. He shot out of the remains of the dust cloud, moving as fast as it would let him.

Huzan gave a surprised squawk as the sphere slammed into him with the force of a wrecking ball, sending him careening through the air for dozens of meters, before he collided with a stalactite.

The now disheveled mage barely managed to get his wits about him before another collision sent him spinning once more, this time smashing through one of the rocky formations.

Taking a quick look around to see that Tal had somehow disabled her opponent, the snake looked like it was going through convulsions, and that a now fur-covered Brenden was tearing into his own opponent, Mike felt much more assured.

”Now let's see. Should I call this Mage Pinball, or perhaps Wizard Billiards?” He chuckled to himself while sending his sphere forward.