Chapter 69: Unholy
"Leave this to me. I'll take care of it," Litha said as she came forward with the orb still spinning above her head. "I've been on the defensive for too long, time to send some attacks."
Jael and the others gave her space; if she failed to put it down, then it would be easy for them to jump in and do the rest.
The monster's eyes were fixed on her, mouth pulled back in a nasty growl. It began to move forward slowly, and its fur changed; the black fur turned glistening and hard like metal.
Litha also began to walk forward, strides easy as mana boiled above her. "Here, here kitty!"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
The Korvath snared and tensed when they got within striking distance from each other, but just as the monster pounced and Litha gestured, something slammed into her from behind, and the mana she had gathered fizzled and disappeared.
But the imbalance had thrown her forward, straight into the face of the monster! Everything slowed down, and her face widened at the sudden loss of her mana.
"Litha!" Jael shouted and was already leaping forward. He wasn't the only one either; everyone had already activated their skills and was pushing towards her and the monsters, but it was going to be too late.
So Jael did the only thing that came to his mind: his eyes flashed with power, and he pulled tightly on his connection.
The ground between Litha and the monster opened up and the war chief erupted out like a beast made of green flame. The surprised Korvath was already in the air and couldn't react in time to continue with the attack.
The two monsters collided in a show of force so brutal Litha was thrown back. They fought like animals, claws and fangs sinking into flesh as they gripped each other.
The Iron fur of the Korvath couldn't stand a chance against the Unholy magic-covered claws of the war chief, and soon one monster was down, and another was standing atop it.
"Good job! Goblin!" Jael called. He never imagined there would come a time when he would be praising one of those annoying creatures.
The war chief wasn't left unaffected either, its left arm had been torn clean off, and claw marks on its chest was deep. Green fire poured from the wounds like blood and where it dripped, it hissed and spat like acid.
The others ran to Litha while Jael first return to the war chief. He didn't know how the undead would grow back the left arm, but right now, they had another things to focus on.
Litha was on the ground, her hand flat on the dirt as she gasped for air; she trembled as if a chilly wind was blowing against her. "Wha..what exactly is wrong? My mana? Where is my mana?"
Temur gestured and they gave her space while he crouched beside her. "What's wrong? What happens to you there? Litha? Litha?"
Jael joined the others, and he watched as Temur talked with her, but she didn't respond. "What happened there?" He looked around but there wasn't anything strange, then what made her trip like that?
Litha finally spoke. "My...my mana. I can't feel it." She swallowed and struggled to her feet with Temur's help. She raised her hands, and mana gathered together in a blue ball of light, but it immediately flickered and died down.
She felt it drained away from her like water from a broken jug. "See? What the fuck. It just drained away from me!"
Jael moved closer cautiously, still keeping his eyes open in case it was a monster that was near. "How is that possible? Not to feel your mana?"
She turned to him, her face squeezed up. "I can feel it but it's as if it's draining faster than I can generate and take in. And I can't make any technique without it getting sucked away."
Jael and Temur exchanged silent glances. 'What the fuck? Litha is the one that's knowledgeable about shit like mana and stuff and now she's the one having her own drained away? And having a melt down?'
They turned to the others and Cele shook her head. "I've never heard about anything like this before."
Tim frowned. "I mean. We were all here, and there's no monster, or we might have guessed if it's a monster's technique or not."
Jael had also guessed that maybe it was a monster's attack, but since there was none near then he asked instead. "Can it be the effect of continuously using your powers without rest?"
Dile shook his head. "I don't think so. This seems rather peculiar, maybe it's the work of the monster we are looking for. She said it feeds off mana right?"
'Oh shit!' Jael swung towards Litha and covered his eyes with unholy magic. His eyes blazed and he began to see more than his normal Awakener eyes could see. "Ah...shit!"
"What is it, Jael!" Temur asked quickly and he began to search around Litha, dragging her clothes with her to check. "Is it the monster? Where is it? Tell me quickly and I'll chop it off."
"Stop it, you big oaf!" Litha snapped, successfully saving her clothes from Temur. She scowled, already gaining her composure as she turned to Jael. "Where? Where is it?"
"Stay still first, know that this won't hurt you." Jael raised his hand where his Unholy magic gathered. The warning was needed because aura is keyed to people's magic, and they function differently.
Unholy magic is different from the pure mana that Litha uses or Temur's red aura. It works on the type of Codex they have. His Unholy magic is well...Unholy.
Jael got closer to her, then he pointed at her head, and his Unholy magic poured upon her; it slid down her body until her whole body began to burn with the heatless green fire.
Immediately, it covered her, and they saw what Jael had been seeing; they flinched, Including Temur. "Unholy shit."