The floor rumbled and cracked, prying open to reveal a crimson abyss. The skeletons, and all those not protected by Lucius's solar field, were swallowed whole. In exchange, blood began to bubble out of the cracks.
Eilphyr stared at the blood in satisfaction, as it rose and took a humanoid form. A crimson creature, nine feet tall, with nothing but a set of eyes on its face, came to being.
Lucius could barely sense the creature, it was as if it had no energy presence whatsoever. He could only detect it because of the scent of blood that clung to its body.
However, it wasn't the only thing with a negligible energy presence. Eilphyr had spent all its energy summoning that thing, and Lucius could sense Eilphyr's weakness like a shark in bloodied waters.
He sent his shadows after Eilphyr, grabbing its arms and legs, just as it did with Ghost.
"Morrghul, destroy that creature's core," Eilphyr said, staring at Lucius's cacoon with unconcerned eyes.
However, Morrghul did not respond. It stared at Luicus with the curiosity of a newborn. Unmoving even as its master was dragged towards Lucius.
"Morrghul! Kill it!" Eilphyr shouted, anger now seeping into its voice. Still, Morrghul did not react, it looked to its hands, and then towards the walls, then back at Lucius's cacoon.
"Listen to us! We are your master!" Eilphyr shouted. It struggled against Lucius's shadows, clawing at the ground as it was hauled to its doom. It managed to rip several of its claws, leaving a bloody trail in its wake.
"I told you, you would pay," Lucius whispered, before lifting Eilphyr into the air. The shadows began pulling at all its limbs, and they snapped out of their sockets with an audible pop.
"Did you think we would scream just because of this? This is but one vesse-" Eilphyr was about to say, before kumulipo made contact with its chest.
"No. But this is the part where you scream," Lucius interrupted, sending his energy gushing into Eilphyr.
Eilphyr screamed like no living being should. Even from within the caccoon, Lucius's ears rang, and a hot painful liquid dripped out of them. However, that was a small price to pay to see Eilphyr writhing and squirming within his grasp.
Despite the complexity of Eilphyr's channels, he quickly discovered where its manacore was.
"Morrghul!" Eilphyr shouted, its voice now gurgling. Blood dripped out of its mouth, and its eyes were deep red from pain.
Morrghul was on the ground, covering its ears, confused over what was happening.
Lucius surrounded Eilphyr's manacore, before slowly crushing it. He savoured the screams... the singing that Eilphyr let out with every crack that appeared. Sweet energy began to seep out of Eilphyr's manacore, perhaps the only thing sweeter was the snapping sound of Eilphyr's body slowly being mangled.
"Wherever it is you are go once you die, tell them the forest is off limits. Tell them what awaits them, if they choose to come here," Lucius said, before shattering Eilphyr's core.
Morgull howled in pain.
Lucius found it funny that it screamed just like its master, even more funny that its energy tasted better.
His eyes were heavy... too heavy to keep open.
[...]
[Processing...]
[Foreign mana successfully converted.]
[300 million Helios added.]
[System event... {A Guardian's Wrath} complete!]
[+ 10 000 exp!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Reward granted: Complete Quest Pass]
[New Item unlocked: ???]
[Level 20 Acquired!]
[Guardian Quest Available!]
"That's all well and good. But I think I'm going to take a nap before reading all that," Lucius whispered to himself, as his vision went dim.
"I hope everyone is okay."