Bab 988: Power of Daemons
The entire court was waiting for Morgan to escape the trap skill. [Decipher Me or I Will Devour You] had already asked the question, but the CEO had yet to answer it. Strangely enough, Hera was able to "hear" the riddle even though she wasn't inside the trap.
"Born of the world, yet reaching beyond,
With dreams that stretch and a spirit strong.
I thrive in MAZE, my journey unclear,
That is my right, my one true frontier,
Neither beast nor scaled, nor sky-born in flight,
Nor the underground is where you find my might,
Who am I, in shadow or light?"
It took her a moment, but she quickly understood what the answer should be. Of course, she would never truly know if her assumption was correct. The only way to confirm that would be to open the cage, and she had no intention of doing so, even if she could.
Everyone waited and waited, the seconds ticking by as nothing came from inside the barrier. Lurize and Vulcan even started to think Morgan had given up and was simply waiting for the effect to stop. Hera then felt the skill trigger again. [Decipher Me or I Will Devour You] had deemed the answer Morgan gave to be wrong and reinforced the barrier. From the outside, there was no visible difference, but Hera knew that inside, the available space should now be smaller, even if it wouldn't yet reach the point of being uncomfortable.
Suddenly, everyone heard something slamming against the barrier. It held strong, but another attack followed, and then another, and another. Each impact sounded louder and stronger than the last. After the tenth strike, the barrier began to crack, and on the thirteenth, it became clear it was about to collapse.
Not wanting to waste time, Hera told Vulcan to awaken Eira immediately. She had done so before and knew what to expect from the permafrost glaive. There was only a single skill that changed upon awakening, but it was exactly the one Hera would need.
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Eira – Permafrost
Glaive
Empress Attributes: 177
Scaling:
Agility X 48.8 Strength X 42.8 Endurance X 27.8
Intelligence X 5.3 Charisma X 5.3 Luck X 5.3
Active Skills:
Frozen Stasis:
Eira taps into its permafrost nature to freeze enemies solid and shred their defenses.
Freeze duration: 10 seconds.
Target defenses: -35%
Cooldown: 15 minutes.
Frostbite Strike:
A single devastating thrust that focuses all the permafrost energy from Eira into a single point. The strike is able to freeze even the target's mana.
Mana cost: 10% maximum mana.
Base freeze duration: 30 seconds.
Cooldown: 5 hours.
Permafrost Vortex:
Eira taps into its permafrost nature to freeze all enemies around her solid and shred their defenses.
Freeze duration: 5 seconds.
Target defenses: -20%
Range: 15 meters.
Cooldown: 20 minutes.
Awakened:
The scaling is doubled.
All skills have their effects doubled, as well as their duration. The cooldown is reduced by half.
Eira is enveloped in the ice of an ancient glacier. Every attack includes ice damage.
Passive Skill:
Permafrost Aura:
Eira emanates a constant icy aura that reduces the speed of those struck by it.
Range: 3 meters.
Speed reduction: -10%.
Defense reduction: -15% per second while in the aura.
Duration: 3 seconds.
Familiarity: 100%
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Visually, the glaive didn't change much. It was still a weapon made of pure ice, a dark ice that came from the core of a glacier. But now, more spikes protruded near its blade, and a constant trickle of snow formed underneath it.
[Decipher Me or I Will Devour You] finally broke under the repeated attacks of Morgan's fist. It seemed like he hadn't used any specific skill or weapon to break the trap. He had done it with raw physical power.
"You!" Morgan roared, looking at Hera. "What was the answer to the riddle?"
The Ophidianite frowned. Morgan had just escaped a trap surrounded by enemies, and yet he was more worried about the riddle? Still, she might be able to use that to her advantage. Commanding all the court members who were not in his line of sight to approach, she replied.
"Why does that matter?"
"Because it does. I thrive in MAZE, my journey unclear, that is my right, my one true frontier. There's only one thing this could be talking about. Humans. The MAZE is our frontier. Our birthright."
Hera couldn't help but laugh at that. "You really are a sorry excuse for a tyrant. Are you really that presumptuous to think a riddle like that would have 'human' as an answer?"
"It has to be. Nothing else fits. The only explanation is that you were the one creating the riddles, making the answers whatever you wanted them to be."
Hera shook her head. "Oh, I wish. That item has a secondary effect that is much better for me, but I have to get the riddle right to trigger it. And as far as I know, those riddles never lie."
Hera smirked, watching as Livy, Vulcan, Eira, and nearly half of her blades approached in their weapon forms, making no sound.
"Then what is the answer? Who else could have the frontiers of the MAZE as their right?"
The Empress smiled. "It's quite simple, really. The answer is in the riddle itself. 'Born of the world, yet reaching beyond'. It's someone who was born in the MAZE, not on earth. Then 'Neither beast, nor scaled, nor sky-born in flight, nor the underground is where you find my might.' It's saying it's not the Beastmen, it's not an Ophidianite, a Triton, a Child of the Sky, or a Dwarf. Which means the frontiers of the MAZE belong to the elves. Or at least, they do in this riddle. I imagine that line was added because, without it, any of the species could be the answer, with one notable exception."
She stared at Morgan. The end of her sentence didn't need to be said. In all honesty, she had imagined that the answer could be either human or elf, but hearing how upset the man was, she felt it was only poetic.
"You lying bitch!" Morgan bent his knees, ready to lunge at Hera.
At the same time, all the Court members who were approaching Morgan struck. A flurry of bladed weapons crashed against his back. They attacked him so quickly that he didn't even have time to respond, not that he needed to. The man's shirt was cut to shreds, but the skin underneath barely felt a thing. Eira was the only one who managed to do some actual damage, but even that was healed right away. Beam, Executioner, and Dao, who were part of the graveyard, struck after her and were able to also deal some clear damage, even if the injuries they caused were much smaller than the ones inflicted by the glaive.
But none of that was able to stop Morgan from continuing his attack. He lunged at Hera with an open hand, intending to grab her neck, but the Empress jumped backward, avoiding his grasp. The man kicked the air to gain a second burst of speed, but this time Nimbus stepped in front of him, hoping to stop his advance. That didn't work, as the Sentinel was tossed to the side almost effortlessly.
Hera saw Morgan getting closer, his hand still outstretched, trying to grab her. Daskka quickly took a tangible form beneath the Ophidianite, allowing her to jump again and move away from the human.
The man snarled in anger as Hera escaped his attack, but he still punched the air in frustration, trying to do any sort of damage. The sheer force behind his attack created a gust of wind that helped propel the Ophidianite backward. However, once she got to a certain distance, the wind vanished, stopped by the talisman that was still in effect.
As Hera landed, the rest of the court continued to attack. All of them understood that Eira was the most valuable asset. Her attacks could shave away the man's defenses, and without her, they wouldn't be able to deal any meaningful damage. The best possible scenario would be if both Eira and Vulcan attacked together, the latter in his demonic form. However, Eira could only remain in her awakened state while Forge was in full control of his body and mind.
Livy returned to her titled form and brought her axe down on Morgan's shoulder. When the attack connected, a trail of blood started to seep from the man, but it seemed to be absorbed back into his body by the ruby red tattoo. The biggest effect of the blow was on the ground, as the wooden stage cracked under the weight of the impact. Morgan was now embedded in the floor.
Viper and Crimson quickly went in for an attack, both aiming at the human's neck with a serrated ice buff covering their blades. Morgan turned around, trying to get out of the way, but he wasn't able to do so in time. Still, he ignored Viper completely and focused on Crimson, attempting to bite down on the incoming red dagger.
From the back, Hera saw what he was about to do and dismissed the twins before they could make contact. She had no idea if Morgan would be able to eat her blades as he had with her weapons earlier, but she wasn't about to risk it.
Robin fired a flurry of arrows, all boosted by the court's buffs. His goal wasn't to damage their enemy but to distract him enough so the others could land their attacks without impediment.
Frustrated, Morgan jumped out of his hole and landed on the ground in front of the stage. At the same time, Hoop activated [Vortex Dance], creating a small area constantly assaulted by multiple slashes. The human didn't even try to dodge, even though each attack slowly chipped away at his defenses. Eira took the opportunity to trigger [Permafrost Vortex], hoping to trap the man inside the area and further reduce his defenses. Between all the attacks and skills, Morgan now had a 69% reduction in all of his defenses, but even then, the damage being done was far from significant.
Even Lurize, Vulcan, and Livy struggled to do more than annoy him. Each of their blows was a minor inconvenience instead of the dangerous attacks they were supposed to be.
Since the fight started, Shadow and Sun had continuously attacked the man, trying to activate the disruption skill of the Alabaster Dukedom. So far, it had not worked. Even [Whispering Ink] seemed unable to target any of Morgan's skills. Instead, the skill seemed to be connecting to something far away, likely the person channeling the Strength Spirits or the spirits themselves.
Hera couldn't help but feel frustrated with the situation. Morgan was painfully bad at fighting. Every attack he made left massive openings, and every trap she placed was willingly taken by him. Yet they couldn't hurt him. The power coming from the Strength Spirits was enough to make up for the difference in levels, experience, and numbers.
Then again, she still had cards up her sleeve that might help. Before making her next move, she cast the new spell Adamant Scales on herself, increasing her defenses significantly. She then pointed her hands toward the walls and cast Quetzalcoatl's Wrath, hoping that it was different enough from a storm so the talisman wouldn't interfere.
The gamble worked. Emerging from the mist created by the Shroud of Tartarus, tiny droplets of poison imbued with various elements and ailments started to rise in a swirl. They ascended all the way to the ceiling before dropping down in a never-ending cycle, striking either a target or a piece of furniture.
Hera and her entire court felt the strange rain wash over them, refreshing their bodies and increasing their power. Meanwhile, Morgan groaned as the droplets peppered his body, working to break through his defenses.
"You think this is enough to stop me? This is nothing. You're not even hurting me. But you are hurting someone else. Grimoire, show Operating Room A on all screens," Morgan called.
The virtual assistant, which he had so far refused to use, changed the view on all the screens around the room. Every single one of them now displayed the same angle of Blue. She was no longer unconscious. Her mouth was open, veins popping on her neck, as she clearly screamed and thrashed violently.
"The more you try to hurt me, the more you hurt her. It will be a shame to lose such a good proof of concept, but I can easily replicate what I've done to her. So go ahead, continue to fight," Morgan taunted.
Hera narrowed her eyes and did her best to ignore the screens. More than anything, his words were not telling her to stop fighting. They were telling her that she had to end this as quickly as possible.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
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