"Flame Serpent!"

I quickly glanced at Phoenix who released his new spell. A giant snake made of fire materialized in the air and charged at Harbinger. It was over ten meters long, and only with teleportation Aurora managed to avoid it.

"Void Cyclone!"

Quickly activated her spell Aurora and used teleportation again. A small tornado under her feet, let her fly, just like Miriel, but it wasn't enough to avoid the spell of Phoenix still chasing her. While the barrier around her could easily block bullets, she seemed reluctant to let this spell touch her.

Phoenix teleported as well and just a moment later a large cyclone appeared in his previous location.

The center of it was a vacuum, and if caught, suffocating would be the least of your worries. With the air inside body quickly expanding, there is a high risk to explode like a balloon, even if such fate was avoided, blood vessels and organs might rupture.

"Flame Serpent!" with another snake entering the play, Aurora had to be twice as careful.

As for necromancer... even with all my efforts, he was still alive.

With each attack, a green barrier flashed up and most of the bullets were either stopped or redirected. I have completely forgot about Sirius, head of the House. He was a powerful mage, a warlock. Just like Qin. The barrier that protected necromancer was his handiwork.

Not all bullets were stopped by it. 'Arcana Defense' is a third level spell of Dark Magic and originally was meant to defend against magic, not physical attacks. Harbinger I killed was an exception, after all, he had a boost from the dungeon.

Necromancer had many wounds, but none of them were lethal. It would be different if the trajectory of my bullets wasn't changed and they hit where intended.

The most useful feature of 'Arcana Defense' was the ability to keep it all the time. All you need to do is cast it once and it's done. As long as the spell isn't broken, it will remain active for years without any need to dispel. It automatically defends when attacked, and is invisible while in a dormant state, mana required to keep it, in that case, is almost nonexistent.

"Life Harvest!"

Dark tongues of mana launched from Necromancer and allies that were captured started to scream as their life force was absorbed. As he did so, all wounds caused by my attack closed up.

While most of people he used were still alive, I knew from books that this spell reduced their lifespan considerably.

"Bone Darts!"

"Spear of Darkness!"

A cloud of sharp bones by Necromancer and black spear by Sirius was launched at me. Their attack managed to reach all the way to my location, but was easily stopped by my barrier powered by the dungeon.

"Create Undead!"

Bones and flesh from nearby corpses started to gather together and quickly a large creature arose from the ground. Its shape vaguely reminded a small dragon.

With flaps of its wings, the creature lifted from the ground and launched in my direction. Though it never managed to reach me.

One of the flaming serpents stopped chasing after Aurora and charged after undead. It quickly caught it and coiled around it, not long after a large explosion reduced it to ash and chunks of flesh.

While I might be not in danger even if it reached me, Phoenix was taking precaution. Below me was our party, and a rain from corpse explosion would be bad for their health.

Normally, 'flame serpent' was supposed to be a defensive spell, circling the caster and intercepting any danger. But Phoenix likes to change rules of the game. Even with the one he just used, there was now four more of them chasing Harbinger. Aurora no longer had time to retaliate and was forced to teleport all around without stop.

When I looked around I saw a torrent of magic bombarding our side. With no barrier to protect us the war between mages was no longer one-sided. Some mages were disrupting magic circles of wildfire, others were casting their own. It was a chaos, and undead in our midst made it worst. Every new death brought more of them and their bodies could explode in the middle of a fight.

Dungeon monsters never stopped to attack, and while many of them died from magic and corpse explosions, the side of our enemy was losing their numbers as well.

With a constant stream of monsters, Necromancer was forced to use corpse explosions on undead he just gained, all to stop their advance. After the death of leading formida, hellhounds were most useful. Thanks to their speed, they easily avoided large piles of corpses and their attack rendered most of corpses unusable. Even if they were killed, only ash was left from them.

A new batch of formida and hellhounds was still on the way. But once crystal guardians reach the battle, their side will have even more trouble. They might be slow, but it's a force to be reckoned with.

Undead in our midst caused us way more trouble though.

Anyone who fought them at a close distance was taking a huge risk. Even if they managed to kill them, a corpse explosion this close was almost impossible to avoid.

Our party was doing well, even undead like direbears were quickly dealt with a single headshot. None of them could approach close enough for their bodies to cause danger.

"Can't believe we have to kill what should be dead in the first place..." muttered Jack. He stabbed his shield into the ground to cover others from a nearby explosion caused by fireball and then shot another undead.

Even Elmor was now using his gun.

While most in our party were fond of new weapons, minotaur still favored using his swords. But now wasn't time to be picky, and he already learned this lesson when I saved him earlier.

Maybe once all of this is over I will make him a different weapon, a heavy machinegun might be more to his taste.

Mages had the power to deal with undead too, but their attacks often were harmful to their allies.

Templars were faring admirably. Even without destroying the head or monster core, they were capable to kill undead just with a scratch. Their weapons were clad in holy energy and it was a natural enemy of undead. Aura radiating from their bodies also prevented corpse explosion within their vicinity.

Sadly there was too few of them, and spells of the enemy have reduced their numbers even further, undead wasn't the only threat.

From time to time our side was attacked by assassins. Some on our side couldn't react in time when they suddenly appeared behind them. But only some... veteran adventurers facing arachne on daily basis easily dealt with them even when ambushed.

If things continue like this, even if we win the price will be too high. I summoned my guns back while looking at the field. No other choice then...

A colossal amount of mana entered my body through the bond with dungeon and the skin started to crack releasing a blue glow from mana overloading my body.

I started to summon my phantom tail, claws...

Phantom Claws and Phantom Tail have changed into special skill "Phantom Beast".

...torso and even head. A full body of a ghostly demon formed around me and it never stopped growing. The tail alone quickly grew to a hundred meters long, and it was only a start. By the time I was done, it was nearly forty meters thick and over a kilometer long.

It wasn't the size the beast should normally have, but with dungeon nearby I had a massive boost, and usual rules no longer applied. The lower part of its body and the head reminded Tyrannosaur Rex, but the tail was at least five times longer. The back was covered with large spikes directed to the ground and reached all the way to the head. In a way, they reminded hair of a lion.

Two oversized arms reached all the way to the ground and ended with sharp claws. Because of them, the beast looked like a mix of dinosaur and gorilla.

I was a heart of this large creature and felt like the main character from movies controlling a huge robot. I summoned back disc, that was no longer needed and held the urge to release a roar. It's a common sense that beast like this should announce its arrival.

But I don't want even more weird rumors about me...

Ah, who I am kidding, after such display I will be the main topic for sure.

*ROOAR*

As a thunder-like roar, left jaws of the beast, I felt satisfied.

With a single step, a large mass of undead was crushed as I stabbed my claws into the ground. While this was just a phantom form, I could feel that the body had mass behind the hit. Next, with a turn of the body, I swung my whip like tail at the army.

*BOOM*

Large chunks of earth flew into the air and the ground swayed as if during an earthquake, large fissures on the ground spread far and wide.

From the impact, almost half of the army was gone. Some were flying in the air while most of them were reduced to a blood stain on the ground.

Even Necromancer was dead. If my aim was Aurora it might be different, but there was nothing that could save him from 'this'.

Just as I started to consider how should I deal with the rest, I felt something affecting my body. I chuckled in my mind when a memory of Necromancer surfaced in my mind.

Right before death, he looked at me with glowing eyes, probably activated some skill. But just like when Irregular tried to paralyze me, it will be a child's play to negate it with my body manipulation.

How wrong I was.

I already guessed it was a petrifying gaze, but contrary to my predictions, body manipulation alone was powerless to stop it, and by the time I realized this, my heart was already gone.

Only with devour soul, I managed to slow down the process, but the heart and a now a part of lungs have turned into a chunk of stone. I couldn't do anything to change it back, even with body manipulation.

"Kitty!" I heard Phoenix in the distance when my phantom beast faded and I started to fall.

After a moment I could feel his touch when he caught me in the air.

I put all my attention in staying alive. With Space Time Magic I put my heart inside dimension. It was just a piece of stone now. With nutrients from there, I started growing a new. All this time I was also working hard to slow down petrification.

'Petrification Resistance' has been acquired. Regeneration has reached level 7. Regeneration has reached level 8. Thought Acceleration has reached level 5. Thought Acceleration has reached level 6.

"What happened to her?!" I heard Tia and Miriel.

"I don't know!" shouted angrily Phoenix while setting me on the bed he just summoned.

"Petrifying... gaze." I said with a barely audible voice as the blood was dripping from my mouth.

As the heart was a priority, lungs were still a mess.

After I obtained petrification resistance, it was a bit easier. But I am still losing this fight and have to constantly get rid of my own body parts turned into stone. Luckily petrification was spreading only outwards, and the parts I 'restored' were not affected. But...

If this reaches my head, I am done for.

Petrifying Gaze wasn't a spell. I know only of a few monsters that possess this ability. And even they can't use it more than once in an hour. This was probably the only reason why Necromancer hesitated to use it till now. I never expected it to be so powerful.

Like some kind of infection or a curse, it was spreading from the heart and defied common sense. Devour soul should be able to absorb all forms of energy, yet all it could do was slow it down. It was as if the source wasn't in this realm...

Another realm...

I looked inside me through the eyes of a soul, but just as before couldn't see the cause. I then tried to apply my experience with phantom shift and Space Time Magic to look beyond.

Little by little my perception started to change and I could finally sense it. There was something out there, something powerful and dangerous... and it was searching for me in return. Even indirect influence put me in mortal danger, if it managed to find me, it will be game over. When Necromancer used his ability, all he did was reveal my existence to this entity.

Somehow it reminded me of her...

Her?

A quick flash of woman image flickered before my eyes... White floating robe, blonde hair, and glowing white eyes... It wasn't memories of my body and came from a connection leading beyond. If not for my attempt to deal with my current predicament, I would have never noticed it. But the connection lasted only for a split second, and then escaped my grasp...

Goddess?

It was just a flash, but I realized it was a fragment of my missing memories when I meet her. So I really was summoned...

While the entity searching for me wasn't Goddess, I had no doubt it is just as powerful, if not more...

When petrification managed to claim even more of my body, I was reminded of my predicament and started working earnestly to avoid becoming a statue. With better understanding, it was now easier to do so.

Petrification Resistance has reached level 2. Devour Soul has reached level 3. Soul Awakening has reached level 2. Special skill Transmutation has been acquired. Alchemy has evolved into Arcana Alchemy.

"... protect her."

When I opened my eyes, I saw Phoenix jumping on his disk.

When a shadow covered my body I looked up and saw a large boulder heading our way, only to vanish from a touch of Phoenix.

While the battle wasn't over, now it was only a matter of time before our side has won. I was surprised to see her. I thought Aurora will run away the moment I dealt with Necromancer.

"If you wanted to see me naked, you just had to ask..." said Aurora while licking her lips.

Just like she mentioned, she was completely naked. As space time mage she should be able to summon spare clothes, but for some reason she didn't even bother.

"Why are you still alive?!" shouted Phoenix while looking at her.

"Oh, my poor little thing. Did you really think a little explosion is enough to stop me? I am immortal."

Phoenix didn't say more and a dozen of small balls of metal launched at her.

I realized it was a trap.

From their conversation, I suspect her body was blown to bits with 'flame serpent'. I must have missed it. Yet here she is, alive and kicking. Killing her wasn't an answer, and those balls of metal were actually paralyzing grenades. Phoenix masked their real purpose by using them as blunt weapons.

Devour Soul has reached level 4. Petrification Resistance has reached level 3.

For the first time since all of this started, devour soul was finally capable to stop the spread. I still had to put all my efforts to do so, but now, once I restore my body, it will stay that way. Soon I should be able to help with the fight.

"Fist of the Titan!"

The earth under us swayed, and I realized that I am the target, but even after a while nothing happened.

"Tsk. Stupid old fart..." grumbled Aurora while looking at guild master.

From memory fragments of Qin, I knew she can use wind and illusion magic, but only now I learned that she can use earth magic as well. I guess it was useless in a fight in the air.

But even she was incapable to activate earth magic with him around. With many enemy mages now dead guild master was attacking and defending at the same time.

A large wave of earth was approaching leftovers of the army.

Phoenix sighed in relief when saw I am ok and caught another boulder heading our way. After that, he looked at Aurora with boiling anger. Sparks of lightning started to appear on his body and a ghostly grimoire emerged over his palm.

"Hey! It was a legitimate attack." pouted Aurora in the air and after catching one of grenades, stored in her dimension. "Your Catzilla killed my boy-toy. It's only fair..."

Catzilla?!

"Eye..."

A large amount of mana started to gather around Phoenix.

Before we went to sleep, knowledge wasn't the only thing I shared with him, he too now had a lot of mana in his dimension.

Just for this single spell, I felt he was using all of it. Never before seen symbols started forming above his grimoire, and a dozen meters above him, a large fireball started to take a shape.

"Of..."

It was bright red and was three meters in diameter. From intense heat, at its core, hurricane-like winds were blowing in all directions.

"Inferno!"

With the final phrase, a crack in the space has appeared in the center of it, drawing flames inside it. The spell started to look like a giant eye of fire.

"Wow. I never heard of a spell like this..."

But her speech was cut short as powerful beam fired from the eye. Though she managed to avoid it by teleporting a distance away.

I looked with amazement at the sky, one cloud after another was cut in half when the beam followed after Aurora.

Just how far it can reach? I don't know of any spell like this as well. If I have to guess, it was a completely new spell Phoenix created by combining fire, lightning, and light... maybe even space time magic.

But it didn't last very long and eventually, the eye of inferno exhausted its power.

"Phew, that was close. For a moment I thought you really wanted to kill me" said Aurora while floating in the air.

"Huh?" she let out a surprised voice and her body started to fall.

Paralyzing gas was taking effect.

I appeared right behind her and activated my devour soul.

I didn't forget my promise to Phoenix. All I did was absorbing her mana to prevent her from using magic and making her faint. Even if she was paralyzed, there was a chance she might be able to use teleportation.

Somehow I had a feeling this will be a very troublesome prisoner...