2994 Black Blood (Part 2)
Maergron no longer perceived the world through the other five eyes and the Voidfeather's keen sight was lost to him.
As he looked at the five extra eyes, they looked back at him, glaring in hatred.
"I see you." A voice that didn't belong to the Fae came out of his mouth that was now filled with fangs that hadn't been there until a second ago nor had he perceived forming.
A voice that sounded like wind howling inside an abyss.
Maergron touched the fangs with his fingers, refusing to believe his own eyes. As a Fae, his appearance depended solely on his will. Such a change was impossible without his will.
The moment he touched the fangs, his fingers became numb. Then, he doubled over in pain as the same force that had sucked the vitality out of his hand did the same to the rest of his body.
The human and the Dragon side of the Tiamat's life force were just that. Life force. Once separated from their owner, they were without the will and power to resist a predator like Maergron.
The Void, however, contained a spark of the same death energy that had given new life to the dead body of the original Lith, Strata. The Void only needed a source of power to thrive.
Protheus had learned this the hard way back when he had tried to steal the Tiamat's powers and offer them to the Mad Queen to study. Maergron was experiencing the same phenomenon, just a thousand times worse.
Back then, Lith was just a deep violet core. Back then, the Void was a wild player wanting everything for itself.
Now, Lith was a bright violet core, and the Void had the full support of the human and the Dragon side. When the Void connected with their blood, they gave the Void their powers, joining it in the fight.
***
"I see you." A voice that belonged to the Void came out of the Tiamat's mouth along with countless images and feelings.
Lith and Solus could now watch through Maergron's eyes and look at the Forgemastering contraptions in the throne room. They could look at the visage reflected in the pool of blood and recognize it as belonging to their enemy.
'That's the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who's hurting Solus!' Lith's body swelled with flames as he ignored the throne room and focused on his hated enemy.
The Void inside Maergron answered the call by pillaging Maergron's body and brain. The Voidfeather took the stolen energy, unraveling the knowledge and power it contained.
Then, the human side projected the elemental energy through its seven eyes and sent the information acquired by the Voidfeather to Lith via the flow of world energy of the Garden.
Lith's skin p.r.i.c.kled as he was now connected to the Ears of Menadion thanks to the body that the Void was attempting to steal. More than that, he gained the knowledge to exploit that power.
"I understand." Lith took another deep breath and released it slowly.
The violet of the Origin Flames repelled the waves of enemies coming from both sides and seeped inside Solus' wounds.
It couldn't heal her, but it could protect her.
The violet turned black as the Void Flames burned at the poisonous mana and ravaged the blood cores, using the life force they stored to stoke the Void Flame's power.
The black turned white as the Blight Flames accelerated the metabolism of the parasites, forcing them to devour themselves and wilt. The parasites couldn't prey on fresh meat and life force because it was engulfed by violet flames that prevented the tendrils from spreading.
The Blight Flames struck at the vines wrapped around Maergron's minions, at the lichens and moss that grew on the rock walls, at everything they perceived as a threat.
The white turned orange as the Nether Flames disrupted the electromagnetic fields inside the cave and turned off the Zouwu's stolen ability.
The minions reverted to their regular speed whereas Bytra and Strider were unaffected. The orange turned yellow as the Noxious Flames turned the air into a powerful acid, eating at the minions from the outside while the other Cursed Flames ate at them from the outside.
The orange turned red and the blue. The True Flames set ablaze the world energy coursing through the rock, cutting the tendrils of the Fae off and denying the undead the source of their infinite strength.
The Garden was ablaze, the rock so hot that it became white. The Frozen Flames coated the enemies, making their bones brittle and their flesh stiff, robbing them of the power of the t.i.tania.
Lith stood up slowly, lifting Solus in his arms. The pillar of fire surrounding his body kept growing in power and strength even though he had stopped breathing more Origin Flames.
"Six, no seven. Eight. Nine… Eleven different kinds of Flames?" Zoreth was flabbergasted.
The Cursed Flames swirled with the violet of the Origin Flames, the white of the Primordial, the emerald of the Immortal, the silvery of the Dread, and the blue of something she had never seen before.
Each one took the shape of a roaring Dragon that bit, clawed, and spread its fire on the enemy lines.
"Everything burns." Lith said, his voice reduced to a whisper.
The pillar of fire grew and spread, protecting his allies and killing his enemies. It took what it needed from the Garden, ravaging it with the power of the Flames born from the Tiamat's body.
They were relentless and unforgiving. They followed the trail left by Lith's human side in the flow of world energy like sharks sniffing blood. They followed it to their enemy, burning everything in their path.
***
Maergron screamed in agony as every vine of his body turned against him and the powers he had stolen stopped answering to his will. The Void was stronger than it was in the past but alas, the Fae wasn't as weak as Protheus either.
The Doppelganger had been a measly green-cored Awakened and would have died without Thrud's help.
Maergron was older, stronger, had the Ears on his side, and was in the heart of his own lab. He triggered the defensive spells on himself and drew new power from the throne.
The Fae resisted the pain, using the Ears of Menadion to understand and counter the unknown enemy. Soon, he understood there could be no victory.
"f.u.c.k, f.u.c.k, f.u.c.k!" The only choice Maergron had left was to expel the blood he had absorbed.
He had to give up on everything he had gained up to that point but the alternative was death. The Fae split his body into two, surrendering to the Void every bit of flesh and mana that it had conquered.
It was a huge loss, but now the link was broken. The Void had no more access to the Ears, to the throne, and to all the other resources that the rot left by Derek McCoy had turned against their master.
Maergron and the Void had equal ma.s.s and power, but only one of them had the home advantage. Without the Fae's energy signature to s.h.i.+eld it from the defence mechanisms, the throne room unleashed its full power at the Void.