Supreme Magus novel Chapter 3269

Kigan had ordered the Maw to prepare a Decay Bastion, but he didn't know if it would make it in time or if it would be enough to survive the Annihilation. To defend the two women from eight Divine Beasts, he had taken quite a beating.

His bones had broken and mended several times already. He had ignited his life force over and over again to burn the incoming spells and heat the air enough to make it breathable for Kamila and Zinya.

His Adamant-coated tail feathers whipped at the maces, taking the brunt of the damage and deflecting the incoming strikes. His wings flapped, releasing wave after wave of Origin Flames. Yet it wasn't enough.

Kigan's best means of attack, turning himself into a living mass of Cursed Elements, and of defense, becoming a living shadow, were useless. One would have killed Zinya and Kamila, the other would have left them open to the relentless onslaught.

'What can I do? What can I gods-damn do?' Kigan's loyalty to the Master forbade him to abandon Zinya just like his bond with Xenagrosh made it unthinkable for him to let Kamila die.

The Annihilation faced the Bastion to a standstill, the clashing anti-Guardian spells illuminating the area for miles.

Alas, the Griffons had chosen that place for the ambush exactly because it was in the middle of nowhere and magically cloaked from prying eyes.

To make matters worse, Kigan's double cores provided him much more mana than a bright violet core, but they were fallen cores nonetheless. They weren't Awakened nor could they Awaken.

Resisting the Annihilation drained Kigan as much as cracking the Bastion exhausted the Griffons, but they could use Invigoration. Behind the safety of their anti-Guardian spell, with every breath they took, the Griffons recovered their strength and poured more mana into the Annihilation.

Kigan resisted as long as he could, longer than anyone would have believed possible but in the end he fell. The anti-Guardian spell pierced through the depleted Decay Bastion and hit the Balor Phoenix in full.

His body was turned into shreds, his flesh vaporized on contact with the seven elemental pillars. Only a few feathers survived, riding the shockwave of the impact to safety.

"Please, stop!" Zinya cried. "We have done nothing to you. We don't even know you. Why do you hate us so much?"

The black feathers gathered, absorbing the surrounding world energy and feeding off any life form they found to fuel their regeneration, even bacteria.

"Damn Phoenixes and their absurd vitality." Zastaf spat. "Fusing with an Abomination made Kigan even more annoying, but nothing we can't deal with. As for your question, woman, we don't hate you.

"I don't know who you are nor do I care. Yet know this. Even if my plan didn't require to leave no witnesses, I would kill you anyway for associating with a monster like the Bloodstained.

"First things first though." He grabbed Kamila, discovering how powerful the Spirit Barrier imbued in the Voidfeather armor was. "I'm sorry, Lady Verhen. I really am."

The Frost Griffon needed his full strength and a bit of Life Maelstrom to crack the barrier protecting the two women. The other Griffons took care of stomping the life out of Kigan's feathers and making sure with Life Vision they wouldn't miss any.

"You have no fault in this but you have to die. Since there's no hatred between us, I won't make you suffer." The emerald sphere fell apart, leaking mana. "Feel free to say your last words if you have any. I will remember them forever and if I can, someday I'll pass them on to your family."

***

"It's a boy."

Before the Spirit Barrier could break into emerald shards of light, a maw too big to be fully visible from so up close crashed into the Zastaf the Griffon, sending him flying with but a nod of the muzzle.