"But this mural… It seems to display almost the same information that we read about the Great Partition, only it seems to show the hegraphenes pushing someone back, rather than just laying down their lives," Mom said, bringing her light up a little closer to it.
"What in the seven hells? There's another kind of mana like that?" Ed asked, looking up in astonishment. There was still a faint hint of color that had survived over the years, and I instinctively knew that the mana the hegraphenes were using was Wraith mana. "That must be one of the ones we read about in the library, right?" he asked me, but Balgrim's presence forced me to feign ignorance.
It's probably best you didn't tell him about that. Without the Hynafol Arboraneth's protection, we'd only be exposing ourselves and painting a target on our backs, Mom sent me quickly. If my understanding of what this mural means is correct, Siraye's assumption might be the most viable scenario, Ysevel added, causing me to furrow my brow and sigh in frustration.
Just as my shoulders dropped again, we felt a pulse of Leech mana rippling through the air from the far end of the hall. "Shit, get behind me," Mom commanded, as both she and Kalia put up a barrier to block any other spells heading our way. After a few tense heartbeats, none came, but the Leech mana continued to grow in intensity.
"Let's go kill this fucking thing," Irun said, to which none of us, save Balgrim, needed any further encouragement. We sped down the hall, tracing the remaining tendrils of mana that still permeated the air around us until we reached another large door, much like the one at the entrance. With a mild amount of hesitation, Balgrim stepped forward and pressed the mana stone into the slab, causing the doors to open.
Nothing could have prepared us for what we saw next.
It was a massive hall, with towering stone pillars to support the weight of the high mountain ceiling. At its center was a large, sickly green orb, nearly forty meters in diameter, with three pairs of rings weaving into each other, wrapped around it. Within the orb, I could clearly see black streaks of Tyrant mana racing through the Leech mana, as if in perfect synchrony.
At its base was a platform, with another stone slab much like the doorway's, though this one was set between eight pillars that surrounded the entire platform. Each one held mana stones that lined them, emanating a sort of barrier around the orb itself.
Yet, even with the barrier in place, it was still emitting a hateful, crushing aura.
"W-What the…?" Ed asked breathlessly, but the rest of us knew what this was. "It's a relay for Leech mana. This might be the last one in the entire realm," Mom noted, but immediately searched the room for the obcasus. She sent out a thin pulse of mana throughout the room, gathering all the information she could about it, but it quickly cut off when it reached the other side of the orb. "There you are," she said, drawing her weapon immediately.
As if hearing her words, not one, but five of these titanic creatures spawned, each one with their bodies and eyes glowing with sickly green mana just like the one I'd seen that night. "Think we can take them?" I asked as they lumbered toward us, their heavy footfall causing the entire room to tremble.
She turned around to look at Balgrim, whose face was contorted with both excitement and fear at the sheer size of them. "Did you know there was more than one?" Mom asked coldly, but he didn't immediately reply.
Instead, he only moved his mouth silently as his eyes rolled into the back of his head before he was thrown to the wall by another large pulse of mana, but Ed quickly rushed to his side. "Balgrim!" he shouted, desperately trying to wake him up with a few slaps on his plump cheek.
While Ed was trying to wake him back up, the doors began to close behind us much more quickly than they had opened. "A-Are they closing because he's unconscious? Damn it, wake up!" Ed snarled, giving the dwarf a mana-infused slap.
He managed to get his eyes opened, but they were glassy and darting lazily around the cavern. "He's awake, but I can't tell what's wrong with him," Ed said over his shoulder, prompting Mom to click her tongue.
"Damn it. Athar, Irun; protect them from anything else that gets by. I have too many questions for him to die now, and we don't know if another one will come along," she urged, while the rest of us lined up beside her. "Kalia, any ideas on how to kill these things?" I asked, drawing my blade.
"Their regenerative abilities are incredible, but if you can cut them down quickly enough, they will die," she said, glaring back at the titanic maw in its belly that began to smile wickedly. Just remember that you can't use your Wraithborn abilities yet. Not until we confirm what happened to Balgrim, Mom reminded us.
Even if he's unconscious, if he really has been corrupted by Mideia, there's no telling whether he could sense us using Wraith mana, Ysevel noted. Fair point. Let's handle these quickly, then, Mom sent us with a nod.
The creatures had finished rising to their full heights and were gathered around the orb in a tight formation. "Are they guarding it?" Devyr asked with audible confusion. "Heh, not for long," Mom said, immediately dashing in, which prompted the rest of us to follow.
I approached my target quickly, dodging the massive, right-handed black fist that sought to crush me. The shockwave from its blow would have made me lose my footing if I hadn't dashed just before it put a crater in the ground. As I reared my blade over my right shoulder to make the most use of my momentum, I noticed its skin was writhing like a cluster of shadowy worms.
What the fuck is this thing made of? I wondered as I swung, feeling my blade bite and then slow down as the shadowy mass began to wrap around it.