A massive semi-translucent bubble surrounded the group of venari guards a moment later, however, a moment was all that Lucius's cohort needed to wreak havoc.
Lucius was within the bubble only an instant after it was set up. He grabbed two of the venari, each in one hand, and willed his tails to finish them off.
They tore the venari's heads off, before tossing them towards the others.
With the threat of the blue-robed venari so close to him, he couldn't afford to let any of them live.
The venari guards tried to cast their spells, however, their chant times were too long. Lucius decapitated or incapacitated them before they could even get a cantrip off.
However, his surprise advantage was quickly snuffed out. The blue-robed venari seemed to be able to cast faster than all the others and had positioned itself so that the other venari guards would act as a shield between the two of them.
A swarm of earth chains emerged from the ground, sending slight tremors all around Lucius. They lashed at him wildly, trying to find angles in his blind spot so that they could hold him down.
However, his enhanced senses kept him several steps ahead of them. He managed to dodge a few of them, whilst simultaneously avoiding hits from the venari warriors around him.
His tails swung back and forth at a devastating pace to keep the wave of guards from overwhelming him, however between all the things he had to pay attention to, he slipped up, and one of the chains caught his arm.
In that instant, he felt a large chunk of energy immediately leave his body.
A venari guard managed to cast a cantrip, hitting him in the chest, and goring a hole through his body.
~Bursting Trace!~ he chanted, and with that, a burst of solar energy exploded all around him, repeating dozens of times a second.
He had reduced the intensity of the spell to save energy, however, that was enough to barbeque the flesh of most of the venari around him.
The venari in front of it were burned not just to a crisp, but to bare bone. A few of them along with the blue robe attempted to put up a forcefield, however it did little to stop the devouring beam.
All that remained of them were ashes. The ground smouldered red with heat, and some of the rocks had begun to turn to glass.
[You have exceeded the limits of your Rena.]
An instant later, a series of radiant chains erupted from his eyes and wrapped around his body, searing his skin with their power. The brandings on his body began to glow red, making it feel like someone had poured lava on him.
~Used a little too much there,~ he thought to himself as he tried to fight against the chains to stand up. However, they were several dozen times more powerful than him, and each push made them tighten even further.
~Need to fall back,~he thought, realizing he might pass out.
He turned to find that Pagan and Ursa were still dealing with the leftover venari forces. None among them was anywhere near the level of the blue robe, however, they were still strong enough to finish him off should he pass out here.
"Cover m-" he was about to shout, however, Ghost was already there to pull him out of the field.
She brought him back outside the chamber, to rest with the furtong.
"Thank you," he said, his voice a hoarse whisper.
"You've gotten... stronger," Ghost whispered, staring at her hands.
Her skin had been seared off due to the heat that Lucius's body was emitting. Even now, the air around him boiled, making it hard for her to breathe.
However, she seemed to be thinking about something else entirely.