Meanwhile in Aen Silar, the islands and their towers shuddered with Leech mana, as each one was entirely overrun by the creatures they had unleashed. As Nevesh and the nameless creature crossed the threshold of Aen Silar's barrier, they were quickly met by a sea of eyes ravenously glowing sickly green.
Yes, this is good. It seems as though our plans are finally coming to fruition, Nevesh thought proudly while they moved from island to island.
Her anxiousness for the events to come caused her to rub the freshly healed scars along her jaw and arms, but she quickly regained her composure before entering the main tower. The walls were lined with fallen Wardens, with Leech mana leaking from their eyes like tears, standing silently save for a handful of snarls and growls that put their inability to control themselves on clear display.
"Lord Mideia," Nevesh said from a distance, moving quickly across the floor and kneeling before the suspended coffin, with her head hung low and hands trembling. "Ah, Nevesh. You survived your wounds, it seems. Have you brought what I asked for?" Mideia asked with a curled eyebrow, prompting her to suck in a sharp breath.
"I have, my lord," she said, pulling the ring out of the band on her wrist and holding it out reverently toward him. Mideia's face contorted with a wicked smile. "Excellent," he said, visibly pleased by the offering. "Now, then, Jera, if you would be so kind," he continued with an unnerving tone, turning to look at the creature that had saved Nevesh from certain death.
The creature stepped forward and gingerly plucked the ring from her open palm and began to imbue it with mana. Like with Ryfon, the ring expanded to its full size, and with one final pull of mana, a blackened core roughly eight centimeters in diameter appeared in the creature's palm.
I-Is that what I think it is? Nevesh thought with widened eyes as the truth began to unravel in her mind.
Mideia, however, seemed to be reveling in the moment, throwing his head back and breathing in deeply through his nostrils. After a moment's pause, he released a sigh of relief before beginning to chuckle to himself. "Ah, Widner, you old fool," he shook his head as his shoulders rose and fell quickly.
"To think that the key to my return is finally within my grasp. After you've done everything in your power to stop me, to think you would ultimately be betrayed by one of your own; heh, it's ironic," he continued idly, releasing a few tendrils of mana to gingerly take the core to inspect it.
At first glance, he could see his own appearance reflected in the glass-like shell of the core, grinning wickedly the moment he noticed the tendrils of Tyrant mana swirling violently within, like a bundle of deadly vipers striking at each other.
When he was satisfied with what he saw, he closed his eyes once more and thinned a tendril to slowly pierce the core like a sewing needle to an egg. Even with such a small hole in its structure, the power that was unleashed instantly filled the chamber, slamming Nevesh to the ground in a heap.
The Tyrant mana swarmed out of the core as if a small hole in a beaver's dam had been opened. It swirled around the room, voraciously carving into the walls, floor, and even the ceiling of the massive chamber.
"O' rageful Jera, I beseech thee! Heed my Voice! The dawn of thy revenge is close at hand, as the target of thine rage stands helpless before thee! Come hither and strike me down!" Mideia shouted from inside his coffin, enhancing his voice with mana to better draw its attention. "W-What are you doing? Are you mad?" Nevesh called out worriedly, but he paid her no mind.
The tendrils continued to flee the core at an alarming rate, but at his words, they gathered into a single, grotesque tendril, coiled and ready to strike at its target. "I am here, O' Jera mine! Come," Mideia shouted again with a glint of hopeful acceptance in his eyes.
The now-massive tendril heard his call and attempted to strike at him, but it was immediately deflected by the spell surrounding the coffin. "Come now, surely thy rage is more baleful than this mediocre display," he said with a wicked grin.
Is he trying to coerce the mana into breaking the spell? H-How is that even possible? Nevesh wondered silently as another strike shook the entire tower vigorously.
"Again, I say! Strike. Me. Down!" Mideia shouted in provocation, his eyes glaring at the tendril in challenge. The black tendril screeched in anger, as a thousand voices cried out in rageful agony, and responded by wrapping itself around the limits of the spell encasing the coffin and began to squeeze tightly.
Cracks in the fabric of space itself began to appear as the conglomerate of tendrils tightened. The spell was broken with a thunderous shatter, but the moment it was, tendrils of Leech mana began to intertwine themselves with those of Tyrant mana.
"My lord!" Nevesh shouted desperately as the cacophony of cries and deafening rumble of gnashing tendrils struggled against each other. For a few tense moments this continued, condensing ever closer to the coffin before being unleashed in an explosive display of power.
The resulting pulse of mana shattered against the inner walls of the chamber, but not before carving its mark deep into them that was reminiscent of when lightning strikes a tree. Dust filled the air as the walls crumbled around them, causing Nevesh to hold up a hand to shield her eyes.
Could he have survived that? Surely he must at least be wounded after such an attack, Nevesh wondered quietly, as the nameless member of the Jera clan suddenly knelt down beside her, turning her attention to him momentarily.
She turned to look at where Mideia's coffin would have been, but found nothing in its place.