Supreme Magus novel Chapter 540

The sudden turn of events would have reversed the trap, turning Lith into the prey if he hadn’t positioned himself in front of another junction, just to be safe. The moment he understood he was on the losing side of the battle, Lith gave his Death Zone one last push and rolled around a corner to safety.

’What the heck? They were both tier four spells, but I’m the one with a blue core. How could I possibly lose the confrontation?’ Lith’s question was rhetorical, since the bestiary provided no answers to that impossible situation.

Yet Solus knew better.

’His cyan core is indeed weaker. The problem lies in the support the green core inside his eyes provide.’

’If a green core could do that much, together we would be invincible!’ Lith griped.

’Let me finish, dummy! Unlike a normal mana core, the ones in his eyes are able to draw the world energy and use it to empower his pillar-like spells to no end. It wasn’t a blue core versus a cyan plus a green one, it was you versus Mogar.’

’Let me get this straight. Thanks to his eyes a Balor can basically use Invigoration non stop even while attacking?’ Things were starting to make sense, and thanks to that Lith could adapt his strategy.

’Yes and no. Like Invigoration, the eye provides a constant flow of world energy and also puts stress on the user. After using a pillar, the creature closes the corresponding eye. Unlike your breathing technique, it didn’t heal him nor replenish his mana.’

Even a half blind Solus was worth several Balor’s eyes in boosting Lith’s understanding and battle prowess.

Lith Blinked away the moment Life Vision showed him Trou’Bleskamuz was around the corner. The Balor blocked the corridor with his massive body as his blue eye emitted a pillar which turned air into rock solid ice at its passage.

The attack had a double purpose. If Lith was still there, he would have been frozen solid into an easy prey. If he had Warped away as Trou’Bleskamuz expected, by sealing the corridor the Balor was forcing the Ranger into a head on fight that he couldn’t possibly win.

Lith appeared in the middle of his second Death Zone. The mana thread which linked him with his spell gave him its exact position.

’You’re right! He wiped out only one Death Zone, which means he can’t use his eyes as often as I use my spells.’ Lith used Invigoration to fill the remaining darkness cloud with endless mana as it moved inexorably toward its prey.

Trou’Bleskamuz cursed both the Ranger’s shrewdness and his own stupidity in a language that sounded like a choir of tormented souls. Lith had no access to the corridor anymore, but neither did he.

The Balor flew away, trying to buy as much time as he could. Unfortunately, the only passage remaining led to a dead end and even though darkness magic was slow, it only took Death Zone a couple of seconds to reach the cornered creature.

Trou’Bleskamuz used sheer willpower to force his black eye open, fighting the excruciating pain that moving the eyelid caused him. If Solus’s mana sense worked properly, she would have seen that after conjuring the second pillar, the green core had turned grey.

Balors didn’t really have four mana cores, just one like every other natural being. What she had mistaken for extra mana cores were just masses of world energy that a Balor would refine into his own mana and store it ready to be used.