The torrent of sickly green fire tore through the Sunder-Vault, not merely disintegrating Tevis’s colossal chimeras, but *erasing* them. Where moments before hydra-winged monstrosities had soared, only swirling motes of black ash now hung in the phosphorescent air. The effortless obliteration of his power left Tevis gasping on the cold flagstones, his injured side throbbing with a dull ache.
Mireya’s frantic call was a distant echo. Galgor, his massive blade a blur, continued to cleave at the shadow-tendril that had snaked out to grasp at them, but it was like striking mist. The tendril simply dissolved, then thickened anew, probing the air with predatory intelligence. The gloom coiled tighter around the colossal beast emerging from its heart. Plates like ancient obsidian, shredded wings of leathery void, and a maw wide enough to swallow a siege engine advanced across the flags.
Tevis shrank back, the old instinct to hide freezing his limbs before the creature's immense bulk. His mind, usually a forge for macabre fusions, stalled before an engine of pure annihilation.
The corrupted wyrm lowered its horned skull, its multifaceted eyes, like chips of malachite, fixing on Mireya. A guttural rumble vibrated through the stone, and the air around its jaws began to shimmer, gathering the same sickly green energies that had consumed Tevis’s army. Mireya froze, hands flying to her collarbone where the Ley-Weave rune pulsed against the dark.
“No!” Vordakul’s voice, usually a dry rasp, erupted with a surprising, desperate power. Before Tevis could comprehend, the Lich-King lunged, not at the dragon, but directly in front of Mireya. A rasped curse tore from Vordakul’s desiccated gullet as a glowing shard of his spectral essence sheared away from his chest. It solidified into a shimmering, emerald barrier that slammed into existence just as the drake unleashed another torrent of putrid fire. The barrier flared, crackling with absorbed decay, holding for a painful second before beginning to spiderweb with cracks. Vordakul staggered back, his form visibly thinned, the green light in his eye sockets dimming significantly. “Run, you fools!” he rasped, clutching at his chest, his ancient magic taxed to its limits.
The beast roared, frustrated by the temporary ward. Its horned head swung toward a fresh angle, but Galgor moved first. The skeletal vanguard, his carapaced frame a blur, charged across the chamber. With a hollow roar echoing off the vault walls, Galgor plunged headfirst into the beast's immense maw. His armored gauntlets slammed against the roof and floor of the beast's mouth, propping the jaws apart. The monster thrashed, acidic bile scorching Galgor’s plating, but the Pale Crest's champion held fast.
[Ley-Weave Overload Detected. Core Integration Protocol Initiated.]
The sight of his protector tearing apart inside the beast broke Tevis from his stupor. Searing heat, far beyond his physical wound, scored across his chest as a new, intricate rune blossomed in lines of molten copper. It struck like a red-hot iron, demanding immediate action. He saw the pulverized remnants of his hydra-wings scattered across the cavern floor. He saw Galgor bracing the jaws open, skeletal joints splintering under the pressure. An impossible idea, a macabre whisper from the Ley-Weave itself, solidified in his mind.
He had to graft from the inside out.
[New Fusion Blueprint: Internalized Chitinic Burst.]
Ignoring the agony, Tevis pushed himself up, channeling the surging energy. He stretched out a trembling hand toward Galgor, the drake, and the pulverized carapace of his fallen chimeras. The Ley-Weave screamed through him, a white-hot river of creation and destruction. His tethered power surged into the beast, threading through rotting sinew to meet Galgor's frame while vacuuming up every splinter of marrow across the stone.
Bones twisted and lengthened within the beast's gullet. Shell fragments harvested from the destroyed flyers expanded, spiking into the soft lining of the throat. Galgor's skeleton swelled, knitting the foreign material into his ribs. Bone-spurs burst outward through the creature's chest wall, shearing muscle. The monster thrashed in agony, its armor buckling under the pressure.
With a hollow screech, the creature ruptured. Putrid green fluid, splintered armor, and tattered hide rained across the cavern floor. From the center of the detonation stood Galgor, his frame reinforced with razor-edged plating and a pair of serrated wings grafted to his spine. He stood amidst the steaming remains, a macabre victor.
Tevis stumbled forward, the mana rush ebbing. Amidst the viscera, a pulsing emerald light shone from the beast's crushed cranium. He reached in without hesitation, pulling out a fist-sized orb, smooth and cold, radiating pure, untainted mana. The First Elite Core.
[Elite Core Harvested. Planetary Stabilization Progress: 33%. Remaining Cores: 2.]
Mireya rushed to his side, her face a mixture of horror and profound relief, her hands gently touching his uninjured arm. “Tevis… you did it.”
Vordakul, still hunched, managed a weak, almost reverent nod. “A truly… inspired application of the Weave, Master Tevis. I confess, I had not considered such… *intimate* grafting.”
Tevis said nothing, his focus anchored to the broken carcass. A fresh runic burn seared his palm. Channeling the core, a low chord resonated through the stone. Bone, gristle, and plating reassembled into a sleek, emerald-hued titan. The resurrected leviathan bowed its horned head, its malachite gaze set upon Tevis with absolute stillness.
He had his first mount, a leviathan of the Ley-Fracture, bound to his will.
[Warning: Nexus Cores 2 & 3 Detected in Xerathul Prime. Xerathul forces en route to Krag-Mora.]