With the feeling of danger, Lian activated Glacial Reaper Claw, an ice claw formed around his right hand and with one movement, he cut the root in half.
Ice spread from the point of contact and froze a large part of it.
He appeared at another point.
He gathered Thunder Calamity around his left fist and punched the Guardian’s knee.
The lightning entered the iron and part of the knee exploded.
But new roots came out from inside the body and filled the empty space within a few seconds.
Lian cut the Guardian’s left arm with Glacial Reaper Claw, but the roots grew back again.
He destroyed part of its side with Cataclysm Pulse and the structure repaired itself from the inside again.
It did not matter how much he attacked, how much he destroyed, it repaired itself again!
«You cannot destroy a city with your fists.» Maelor said from the center of the chest.
Lian stood on one of the exposed roots, his eyes fixed directly on the city lord in the center of the Guardian.
«I don’t need to destroy the whole city, I only need to pull you out of it.» His ice claw broke the root under his feet.
Maelor created several new layers of roots in front of the chest chamber and the Guardian attacked again.
This time, instead of responding immediately, Lian watched several movements.
The left fist came up, golden light entered the Guardian’s legs from the roots under the bridge.
Then it moved up along the central pillar and was transferred to the left shoulder, when the arm moved, the light in the other parts became weaker.
The next attack was done with the right leg, the same pattern again, Mana first came from the ground, then the central pillar, and then the target limb.
[Echo Adaptation.]
The images and rhythms were recorded in Lian’s mind.
Echo Adaptation did not directly show him a magical weakness.
But it placed the repeated attacks next to each other, every time the Guardian moved one part of its body with full power, the other parts received less Mana for a moment.
Lian intentionally stood several meters in front of the Guardian, Maelor thought an opportunity had appeared.
The giant’s right fist rose, and golden light moved from its legs into the central pillar.
Then it moved toward the right shoulder, at that moment, the defense in front of the chest became weaker.
Lian activated Thunder Step, blue light passed beside the Guardian’s fist, he appeared directly in front of the center of its chest.
[Thunder Calamity.]
His lightning-covered fist hit the golem’s layers.
The first layer broke, the second shattered, and the third exploded from the lightning wave, the attack passed through the chamber and reached Maelor’s body.
The Rootwarden was thrown backward inside the Guardian.
Blood ran from the corner of his mouth, for a moment, his control over the giant body was disturbed.
The Guardian staggered, one of its feet dragged across the bridge and broke part of the stone floor.
Echo Adaptation was deactivated, Lian no longer needed it.
The city lord wiped the blood from his lips, the pride and calmness from his face had been replaced by cold anger.
«Then I’ll bury Ashfall with you.» He opened both hands.
All the roots in the district began to move, not only the roots of the Guardian.
Under the infirmary.
The council building.
The towers where the human archers were stationed.
And the houses where the injured Awakeners had taken shelter.
Hundreds of roots came out from under the ground, some broke through walls, some moved toward the roofs like spears.
The others wrapped around the buildings to crush them.
«Everyone, fall back!» Rindo shouted.
Seraphina raised her sword, prismatic light spread around the infirmary and deflected the first wave of roots.
Liana sent Shadow Wolf underground to stop the roots near the wounded.
Marcus and several Tanks stood in front of the central building.
But there were too many attacks.
If Maelor continued to use the entire city, even if he himself was defeated, dozens of Awakeners would be killed.
Lian made his decision, his eyes moved between the Guardian, the main bridge, and the network of roots around Ashfall.
He did not intend to freeze all of Vhalaris.
Not the civilians, not the buildings farther away, but only the parts that were directly connected to Maelor and the Guardian.
Cold Mana flowed through his entire body.
[Eternal Frozen Apocalypse.]
At the first moment, the sounds became weaker.
The temperature of the area dropped at an unnatural speed, the breath of the soldiers and Awakeners could be seen in the air.
The moisture between the roots and stones turned into white crystals in an instant, the wave of cold spread from under Lian’s feet.
First the surface of the bridge, then the Guardian’s roots, then the networks that stretched from Ashfall toward the giant body.
The golden roots froze in the middle of their movement, the light inside them stopped.
The spears moving toward the infirmary turned into white and motionless pillars several meters before reaching their target.
The stone floor of the bridge was covered by a deep layer of ice, the cold reached the Guardian’s feet.
The roots tried to pull back, but it was too late, the ice passed through their surface and entered their inner layers.
The giant’s feet froze to the bridge, then the cold moved up from its knees and the wave of ice reached the Cindari army as well.
Lian controlled its strength, the soldiers’ bodies did not freeze, but their armor, boots, and weapons became stuck to the surface of the bridge.
Many of them lost the ability to move, several fell to their knees from the cold and the entire battlefield became silent for a moment.
The only sound was the quiet cracking of ice.
One of the Cindari looked in fear at a root that had stopped beside his face.
«Heartroot... froze.»
His voice was so weak that only the people nearby heard it, but the meaning could be seen in everyone’s eyes.
The Heartroot Network was something the generations of Cindari had considered alive, eternal, and impossible to defeat.
Now it had become motionless in front of their eyes, the hope that had returned with Maelor’s arrival broke again, and this time it broke even deeper.
Inside the Guardian, Maelor tried to strengthen his connection to the roots.
He sent golden Mana into the network, but there was no response.
He tried again, parts of the ice cracked, but the roots did not move.
«Impossible.»
«I think I’ve heard that word a lot today.» Lian walked across the frozen surface, the sound of his boots on the ice spread through the silence of the battlefield.
The city lord shouted and released all of his remaining Mana, golden flames came out from inside the Guardian.
Heat passed through the cracks in the ice, parts of the giant body began to shake and the ice on its shoulder and chest started to crack.
The Guardian tried to free its arms, but before it could completely break free, Lian activated Glacial Reaper Claw.
The claw formed around his right hand again, Thunder Step removed the distance between him and the Guardian in an instant.
Lian appeared on the center of the giant’s chest, he pushed the claw into a crack that had been created earlier by Thunder Calamity.
The cold entered the Guardian directly.
The ice did not spread from the outside to the inside, this time it started from the heart of the giant body.
The central roots froze, the chamber around Maelor turned white.
The Rootwarden shouted and sent all the free roots toward Lian.
They came out from the Guardian’s shoulders and neck, but the young Vorhelm clenched his left hand.
[Cataclysm Pulse.]
The wave of destruction was released from inside the chest.
The frozen roots could not absorb the pressure or spread it through the network, all of them cracked at the same time.
First, a deep sound came from inside the Guardian, then cracks spread across the chest, shoulders, and neck.
The thirty-meter body collapsed from the center, the giant’s head separated from its neck and its right arm broke into several huge pieces.
The shoulders and torso turned into piles of stone and frozen roots.
Large pieces fell onto the bridge, the Cindari soldiers moved back in fear.
The Awakeners created Barriers to stop the ruins from hitting them.
Lian entered the central chamber through the collapsed heart of the Guardian.
Maelor was still connected to several roots, he raised his hand to create another Barrier, the golden roots tried to gather in front of him.
But most of them were frozen or broken, an incomplete Barrier formed, which Lian broke with his fist.
His hand closed around Maelor’s throat, the Rootwarden was separated from the root network.
The young Vorhelm pulled him out of the Guardian’s heart, both of them fell from the height and the cold wind moved around them.
Before hitting the ground, the city lord released golden flames from his body.
A wave of Mana pushed Lian’s hand away, he spun in the air and landed on the bridge, his feet slid several meters across the ice, but he kept his balance.
Lian also landed several steps away.
Maelor had still not surrendered. Blood could be seen on his lips and robes.
His connection to the city Network was almost completely cut off and the Guardian had been destroyed, but golden lines on his body were still shining.
He placed both hands on his chest.
«The First Root...»
A white and golden flame came out from his heart.
[First Root’s Final Ember.]
The Mana pressure increased for a moment, flames covered Maelor’s entire body.
An unclear image of a tall figure wearing a crown appeared behind him.
Something that seemed to be a reflection of the power of the founder of the first Cindari civilization.
Maelor’s muscles became stronger, his speed increased, and the cracks on his armor and body were covered by a layer of golden fire.
He rushed toward Lian, this time his movement was faster than all of his previous attacks.