âThe Lord has given us orders!â Several legendary werecreature shamans charged into the battlefield without the slightest hesitation. Malar had roared out their orders, and with him being the object of their faith their zealotry left them with no choice but to obey.
However, the secular leaders of the werecreatures grew irritable. Despite their reluctance, the shamans had pulled them into the fray.
âHow much longer till preparations are done?â Mystra asked as she turned to Tyr. She had managed to block off the orc gods with her silverflame, and Leylin had been trapped as well.
âI need another moment, this is something we borrowedâŠâ Tyr had reached into a ball of light that was surrounded by blue sparks. It seemed extremely magnificent, putting great pressure on the orc gods.
âThereâs also some worms crawling over that donât seem to know their placeâŠâ Mystra turned to the several legendary werecreatures.
âWeâve already prepared, havenât we? Let our people take care of them,â Tyr replied indifferently.
At the same time, the ball of light finally assumed the form of an incredibly sharp spear. Ilneval was rattled immediately by the sight, and even Leylinâs eyes flashed with amazement.
âEicherâs Thorn! They actually borrowed it!â Eicherâs Thorn was a divine weapon that even the gods feared. It had the ability to ripple out any damage done to an avatar to its controller, and even gods werenât immune to its powers. It had caused the fall of two lesser gods in history, and sent a third into deep slumber. Mystra and Tyr had somehow managed to borrow such an ominous weapon.
âHmm?â Leylinâs brows furrowed as the A.I. Chip retrieved the relevant information from its now almost all-encompassing database.
âSo itâs from just after the dusk of the gods. This ability, and the energy itâs radiatingâŠâ Leylin smirked, âSo they actually just took the weapon of a Magus of laws and renamed it. So much for integrityâŠâ
Despite his smirking, Leylin grew more serious. He feared Magi much more than he did gods, their mysterious powers posing a much greater threat to him even as he was now.
On the other end, Ilneval sent a message to his comrades, âEveryone shouldâve heard about Eicherâs Thorn. If you canât get away, itâs better to destroy the avatar than to let it injure you. A bit of your energy reserve isnât worth being thrown into a long slumber.â
âMalar!â Yurtrus shouted, âStop being so stingy with your subordinates! Weâll give you enough compensation laterâŠâ
âŠâŠ
Pressured by his party, Malar pulled back the team of legendary shamans heâd sent to deal with Leylin.
However, their efforts had been halted before they could even re-enter the Moonwood. Cardinal Karal had arrived with paladins in tow, holding a staff made of aged maple. The cardinal chanted a holy spell that caused the paladinsâ armour to glow with light.
âPurge all evil in the name of justice!â The werecreatures were a bunch of bloodthirsty savages in the eyes of the paladins, existences that had to be removed from the face of the world.
âWe donât have much timeâŠâ Gara looked at the paladins before him, a menacing look filling his face as various runes surfaced on his body. They seemed to be sacrificial rites.
Chaotic energy began to descend upon the region as a large fire began to burn in mid-air. A large metal door materialised, and numerous demons charged out under the lead of a legendary balor.
This was a legendary spell, Summon Demonic Army. Its unimaginable might was only canceled out by the complicated requirements it posed as a chaotic evil spell. The summoned army wouldnât necessarily obey the orders of their summoner.
The balor looked at Shaman Gara with hostility, but another group in the area stole its attention. Paladins and demons were in completely opposite alignments, and neither group would rest as long as the other side. Just listening to the word paladin was disgraceful, blasphemy to demonkind.
âDemons from the Abyss!â A paladin screamed as he rushed forward, waving a greatsword bathed in holy light, âHoly Slash!â
â(%^!%$!â The balor spoke in an incomprehensible ancient language as it looked at the group of paladins, its voice coarse and unpleasant.
âThe words of blasphemy!â A white rune radiated purity from Karalâs solemn face, âThis is getting too troublesome.â
The balorâs spell had been cast in an instant, rooting the charging paladin to the ground. The balor smiled malevolently as he brandished his sword, cleaving the still paladin in two.
âHehehe⊠Itâs the prime material plane! We can harvest souls nowâŠâ Many other demons charged out from behind the balor, throwing spell after spell as they turned the place chaotic. It all happened too quickly, and that paladin had fallen to the balorâs sword before anyone could react.
âDamn it! You evil vermin, you shouldnât exist in this world!â Rafiniya screamed as she recovered from a daze, killing intent boiling to the surface.
However, the words the balor uttered as it looked at Rafiniya astonished her, âHehehe⊠A legendary paladin? No, I smell a whiff of energy from those idiots in Baator on youâŠâ
âI am a paladin, protector of justice. Donât try to ruin my reputation!â
Even Karal didnât put any stock in the demonâs words. They only served to agitate the paladin, and she radiated powerful energy as she drew her sword and entered a frontal clash with it.
âKill!â The other paladins looked each other in the eye before charging forward to meet with the demon army.
A scene of chaos began to unfold.
âŠâŠ
The battle of the gods had reached its zenith at this moment. Eicherâs Thorn had absorbed all the light around it, and the spear had come to float in the air as Tyr pointed it at Malar.
*Whoosh!* The spear pierced through space to arrive at Malar in an instant. The Beast Claws had already been damaged once, and a hole was pierced through them with this attack. The spear moved forward unthwarted, heading towards Malarâs brows.
âROAR!â The avatar could only cry in indignance as it exploded, filling the skies with divine light.
Seeing the situation worsening, Ilneval shouted at Leylin, âDamn it, do you still want to keep us engaged? Malarâs avatar has already fallen, there is nothing left here that you would wantâŠâ
âOf course⊠Not!â Leylin agreed immediately, just as Ilneval expected. He retracted his massacre domain, immediately reducing the pressure the three remaining gods had to face. However, none of the three noticed a spot of red light landing amongst them.
âThatâs right, we can stillâŠâ Before Ilneval could heave a sigh of relief, Leylinâs next actions left him stupefied.
[Beep! Silverflame has been analysed, beginning protection with the Shadow Weave.] Leylin immediately dashed towards the fire in the sky, as if he was committing suicide. However, a dark web seemed to cover his body as he came into contact with the flames, cancelling out with the Weave and allowing Leylin to escape.
Without the spatial lock of the silver flames, Leylin immediately cast a teleportation spell. White light flashed on his body as he immediately left the Moonwood.
âThisâŠâ It wasnât just Ilneval that was dumbstruck. Even Tyr, controlling Eicherâs Thorn from the outside, gasped.
Of course, the one under the most duress was the Goddess of the Weave. âThe Weave,â Mystra muttered, but then she grew silent for a moment. âNo⊠the Shadow Weave! SHAR!â She spat out the name of her rival.
âShar? The Goddess of Shadows?â Tyr seemed to have recalled something, âDidnât she fall already?â
âI canât be wrong, thatâs the Shadow Weave,â Mystra confirmed. The Shadow Weave was primal and childish, but it had once been a prototype of the current Weave. How could she not recognise it?