1193. The eagle!

"This little-" Ceres thought annoyed. The storm and sky were filled with almost invisibly sticky threads that kept clinging to his body. They had traveled up the whirlwind he created himself and the elemental had a slightly hard time moving, as he was being quickly covered in spider silk.

The storm elemental had already tried wind and lightning to rid himself of the messy stuff, but it proved to be difficult. The thread was able to draw and divert lightning attacks, while it was too durable to be cut with the wind.

Its mechanic eyes focused on the arachnid woman, who was grinning in self-satisfaction. It had not even been a minute since Ceres was stalled by the sticky mess, but the Parrot of Doom had a short fuse and he was about fed up now.

Flapping his wings in one mighty movement, a storm of metallic feathers shot to the ground. Flying with a terrific speed and sharpness, they easily cut through the threads that filled the air and rained onto the Arachne.

She barely had time to realize what happened and lost her smile, when she was minced by Stygian feathers, shot from the eagle's wings. How long had it been, since Ceres actually used this skill? The elemental didn't even use it in his battle against the mechanic giant. That was how fed up he was.

...

<Shadow Leopard lv.183>

Chains of Light caught the giant creature's leg for probably the third time, shortly stopping its movements before breaking. And for the second time, the off-tank was crushed by the massive paws, in an attempt to sever what he was crushed by.

Bodeka and the Faer of her guild that stayed on Urth had come to Rayki's reinforcement, facing the lv.183 undead shadow leopard. Although the guild was bigger, there were only 30 people, the Faer, as they were technically immortal. Other members stayed in Delta to help defend the walls.

While the mess of snakes biting each other was going on in the background, they had surrounded the big cat. They were lucky the sun had just risen and the leopard was weakened as many of its skills depended on the darkness.

If it could, it would have probably ignored them. As it had a mission it kept trying to escape and attack Heads or Rayki, who were keeping the legendary hydra in check. They were under immense pressure, as everything hinged now on them.

With an average level of 85, the Faer were strong by player standards, but they couldn't compare to someone who was able to step on the path to legend like Rayki. Unlike Ori huma, many of them had long reached their level limit. Even Bodeka's level had come to a hard stop at lv. 95.

They had to fully rely on their party play and the fact that they were hard to kill, to barely keep the beast in check. if they didn't throw themselves into the battle with the resolve to suffer, it would have already escaped. they all knew full well, how much was at stake here and were ready to pay with their blood.

"CAW!"

Bodeka was about to rush in again, wielding the relic-rated sword she had gotten from Minas Mar's treasury when the cry of an eagle almost shattered her eardrums. the aggression carried in the cry struck fear in her heart.

A moment later a projectile crushed the massive beast before her. A blue lighting with a metallic sheen, traveling at high velocity, impacted the leopard's shoulder, smashing it to the ground. it halted for just a moment, just long enough for Bodeka to recognize the lightning eagle.

Its claws dug deep into the shoulder of the undead and with a flap of its wings, it started lifting the beast several times its size, back up to the skies. In one moment, they were battling with their lives on the line, the next they watched the mortal opponent get carried away by a comically small bird.

They should have used the eagle from the start!

...

The Tormentor did not bother any longer with the small fries. Ceres used the chance to the shadow leopard that kept evading its attacks personally and took it to the sky. The golem already had a good idea of how to deal with the undead.

They were flying high above Delta, and still rising. below, they could see the Iego System and the fight of the lich with the Ivicer and the Imugi. There was also a new swarm of beasts, that tried passing through Iego and the gap in the shield, while Puffles and Tatzel were busy.

Asterion was completely bound in battles, against the stronger remnant of the first wave. The leopard in its claws began to struggle, despite its many broken bones from the earlier impact. Ceres simply tightened its grip and kept flying even higher.

Would the undead die if the eagle dropped it from this height? Maybe, but a creature of its strength shouldn't be underestimated. maybe it had ways to survive and heal. No, the Parrot of Doom had chosen a different fate for the beast.

The distance to Delta grew and the city became smaller in the distance. Instead, the crater of the central volcano into view. Chrona had deployed a great enchantment formation to calm the mountain and stop it from eruption, but it was still very much active.

When the orange glow of lava could be seen through the dark clouds of smoke, the undead seemed to realize what Ceres was going to do with it. Its struggle grew desperate, to the point that its rotted flesh and broken bones started tearing in an attempt to rip itself free from the eagle's grip.

But that also stopped after a light electroshock therapy. Limp and paralyzed, the frightening beast, a ruler of shadows, could only watch its end drawing closer. Directly above the crater, the claws finally released it, but it was not happy about the freedom it had longed for previously.

Unable to do anything, it could only watch the lava rush at it, before the end was here.

Ceres was quite happy with itself. The undead had submerged in the lava with a massive splash, before its burning carcass was pushed back up, floating on the molten rock. A great idea and a marvelous execution. He circled once more, twice more, to watch the undead burn and make sure it was over before the elemental returned to Delta.

...

The staff in her hand was creaking in misery, as she grabbed the legendary artifact harder and harder. That bird! She thought the centipede was annoying but the featherbrain was even worse! it was all the fault of that sparking menace.

The invasion of Delta had come to a standstill. With Uz'Roc being swept away and being contained by the weird creature called a questing beast, the undead siege was unable to overpower the Necromancer and their army on the walls.

Her Arachne and her leopard had also died to that stupid bird! They were once again at a standstill on the outside. At least the Rhino of Destruction managed to create a breach in the shield, so things were looking better.

"Send the teams in now," she commanded, her voice trembling with contained rage.

"Y-Your Highness, are you sure? The tree has not appeared yet. If we send the teams in now and Minas Mar reveals another legend, they-" the adjutant stopped speaking when Natina raised her hand.

"Do not worry. Things will take a turn from now on. If the tree comes out, I will take care of it."

She spoke with certainty. As she looked at the raging battles in the distance, a purple spark shone in her eyes. Sosuke may have stopped her from this, but he wasn't here to do so.

The fuse of the Chosen of Kali was much longer than that of the storm elemental, but it had been burning for a long time.