The hole in Thaymos' Spirit Barrier widened faster than its enchantnt could repair it, leaving the lost city exposed to the onslaught.
He roared in fury and outrage, severing his right arm to break free from Tyris' hold. She was caught by surprise and failed to react in ti. The colossal left fist of the lost city hit her square on her eagle head, producing a second, devastating shockwave.
["Not bad."] Tyris replied with a flat tone that shocked her opponent.
Her neck was twisted to the side and her beak bore a hairline crack.
["But it's not enough."] With both of her hands free, the Griffon unleashed a flurry of fists that lifted the Eternal Fortress off the ground and then threw a front kick that sent him flying.
Thaymos crash-landed right in front of the advancing Black Tide, killing their frontlines.
"What an idiot." Zagran chuckled while sharing with Salaark the refreshnts she had prepared. "Inviting a Griffon to a slugfest is like planning your own funeral."
"You can say that." From so up close, the Overlord could feel the forbidden magic animating the lost city and her skin crawled for it. "Still, I don't get how that thing is still free. He said you have defeated him in the past. Why didn't the Council seal the lost city back then?"
"Because of that." Zagran pointed at her scrying mirror.
The two warrior Guardians were watching the fight from the Garuda's turf via a surveillance device. From the mirror's surface, Salaark witnessed Thaymos' right arm regrowing before his body touched the ground.
By then, every damage that Tyris' blows had inflicted upon him had already disappeared.
"No matter how badly I beat him or how small the fragnts I reduce him into, the bastard gets back in one piece and runs away before an array can fully form."
"Even away from a mana geyser?" Salaark asked in disbelief.
"You bet. I have no idea how sothing so old can be that strong or how the old people of Jiera succeeded in sealing it." Zagran shrugged.
Once again, Thaymos stood without bending his knees or pushing himself up with his arms. His back lifted from the ground as if a crane was pulling him up or Mogar was rejecting his presence.
The Eternal Fortress ordered the Black Tide to retreat to a safe distance in a guttural language lost to ti and they obeyed.
["Maybe it's not enough, but it's a start."] He pointed at the hairline crack on Tyris' beak that had yet to heal.
She replied by brushing her thumb over the injury and making it disappear.
The lost city snarled and then conjured one Cursed Star from each of his hands. The erald energy accumulated in the form of perfect spheres the size of a small village that upon their release left a blazing trail in their wake.
As the two energy blasts departed, Thaymos shapeshifted his arms into spiked maces and covered his body with razor-sharp stone blades as he charged toward the Griffon in a tackle.
Tyris snapped her fingers and the spells crashed against a golden energy do along with their caster. The hard-light construct broke the outer layer of the Spirit Spells open and in turn their detonation broke their caster's charge.
The Eternal Fortress' mana couldn't hurt him, but the sa couldn't be said for the chaotic gravitational waves, the dinsional cracks, and the shockwaves produced by his own spells.
Thaymos tried to shield himself but sothing from his chest pushed him in the path of the strongest gravitational waves and threw him inside the biggest spatial fractures. The golden do also sealed the effects of the spells, making them bounce on its surface and maximizing their destructive power.
As Thaymos' body was torn apart and his limbs cracked under their own weight, his detection arrays located the source of his troubles.
Tyris' earlier fists carried one Light Mastery array each and they had carved the magical formation into his stone chest with every hit she had landed. The arrays were both furling the golden do that trapped him and generating the sudden jolts that kept him off balance.
The magical formations answered the Griffon's will and sealed his joints with hard-light constructs at the perfect ti to make Thaymos stumble in the worst position possible.
When the golden do faded away, however, the damage was already repaired and the lost city was flushing Tyris' spell out with a stream of corrupted mana.
["Fine. If I can't beat you with quality, let's try with quantity. Charge!"] At his command, the Black Tide resud its advance.
Black Warg with a strength superior to a Divine Beast attacked her legs while Wormlings unleashed a barrage of life force projectiles and the mutated trolls moved past her.
Tyris opened her hand, releasing a stream of violet bolts of lightning that killed all those who dared face her. Thaymos grinned, joining the offense while the electricity was still crackling.
He infused himself with all the elents, becoming even faster, nimbler, and stronger than before. Tyris saw him coming but her body couldn't react quickly enough. The first spiked fist struck her with a hook, ripping golden feathers off and leaving bloody cuts on her snout and neck.
The second was a body blow that squeezed the air out of her lungs and cracked her ribs. While the mace was still digging into her flesh, an arc of lightning went from one mace to the other, sending her into a seizure.
Each blow was accompanied by a Tower Tier Spirit Spell. Erald flas from Phoenix Smash engulfed the Griffon, followed by erald chains of Griffon Fetters restricting her limbs and movents.
All of them had the strength to wipe out one of the regional capitals of the Griffon Kingdom in one blow. A strength far superior to a white-cored Awakened possessing a mage tower.
Orpal stared in horror at the fight between the colossi.
On the one hand, he thanked the gods for giving him the wits to avoid challenging Elysia's bodyguards and ending up like Thaymos a few seconds ago. On the other hand, he cursed at the lost city.
'How is that possible? I was certain that the old fart could beat Leech, but only thanks to his superior mass and strength. How can he be that strong? Stronger than you with Moonlight?' He wasn't referring to himself but to the strongest hosts Night had in the past.
'I don't know.' She replied. 'I was about to say that he is even stronger than my mother but then I rembered that Tyris can't bring out her full power while in the territory of a hostile Guardian. Still, Thaymos is far exceeding my expectations.'
["I told you that you are nothing compared to Zagran, little bird!"] The lost city roared in a bloody glee as his fists and spells connected in an endless stream. ["She's better than you in every aspect. She-"]
The wagons of the Wayfinder went back to their original place, restoring the defensive arrays to their maximum capability. At the sa ti, a small replica of Valeron castle made of pure erald and golden energy sealed the camp from the outside world.
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