His mind and spirit would be protected from such things, but it should slow him down for a moment.
No one needed a reminder.
Lindon raised both his hands and filled the space with black dragon’s breath. Eithan launched a Hollow Spear, Yerin slashed with Netherclaw, and Ziel accelerated his hammer through several rings of script so that it cracked like thunder as it plunged into the shadows.
[Danger!] Dross called to everyone, and Lindon switched back to his pure core. The Hollow Domain erupted from him just in time.
A slash of orange light split the room in half like a sunrise, dissipating the Dream of Darkness. Reigan Shen hovered in midair despite the lack of aura in the room, a misshapen orange sword blazing in his hand. It gave off an overwhelming pressure no less than Shen’s own.
A chill ran down Lindon’s spine as he felt Dross’ alarm focus on spider-thin cracks that slowly vanished in front of Reigan Shen. He had, however temporarily, cut through the world itself.
“I’ve kept you company long enough,” the Monarch said. “I don’t like to work so hard.”
A green feather emerged from a case at his side, and suddenly the room was filled with wind aura.
None of them waited for him to do as he wished. Striker techniques speared toward him, but slashes of orange light flickered out and struck them down, though his sword didn’t seem to move.
A moment later, nine tridents appeared, shining green with death madra that reminded Lindon of the Tomb Hydras. They hovered in the wind aura, and Lindon’s heart sank. The Soul Cloak bloomed around him.
Even by a Monarch’s standards, these were no ordinary weapons. They had a powerful will to destroy that resonated with the aura all throughout the labyrinth.
These tridents were hungry.
And one flashed at each of Shen’s enemies. Dross slowed the world down, and Lindon extended his left hand to the trident spearing toward Mercy.
He could feel the will compelling the trident to seek life, and rather than oppose it, he redirected it.
“To me,” Lindon ordered.
The trident swerved and headed to Lindon, but it wasn’t as fast as the one that was already about to reach him.
This one, Lindon reached up and caught with his right hand.
Ordinarily, that would have been a fool’s move. The Soul Cloak gave him the speed and precision to catch it, but he shouldn’t be strong enough to hold back such a weapon.
The strength he’d gained from draining Crusher stayed with him, and now he was strong enough. Physically. But death madra seeped into him, eroding his life from the inside. It was trying to consume him.
So Lindon Consumed it right back.
The power of the trident soaked into Lindon, and he saw a few flickering images, pieces of the weapon’s will. It didn’t have memories, exactly; not like a living being did. But he pieced together something of an understanding.
These weren’t nine weapons made to work together. This was one weapon, and it had one intention. Nine fangs flashing together.
And it wasn’t happy about having its energy stolen.
The second trident arrived as the first started struggling to pull back. But Lindon had a firm grip on it.
He swung the first trident into the second.
[It will try to dodge, but it is not a true intelligence. Just a naturally formed will. But it is a very good thing that all nine are not focused on you.]
Sure enough, the trident tried to dodge, but it couldn’t keep up with Lindon enhanced by the Soul Cloak. He knocked the second trident out of the air and vented the death madra into the air.
All the while, he watched and thought.
Mercy had used her freedom from the trident to focus attacks on Reigan Shen. Ziel had matched against his trident, Eithan had blasted it from the air and kept his attention focused on the enemy, and Yerin hadn’t even been slowed down by hers.
Why hadn’t Reigan Shen focused all the tridents?
He had kept four back to defend himself, which was certainly more than he needed. If he had sent them all at one person, he would have been able to keep them out of the fight.
[It looks as though he’s trying to preserve your lives,] Dross suggested.
Or the tridents, Lindon responded.
And that hunch felt right. Reigan Shen would not waste his prized collection.
With renewed vigor, Lindon adjusted his grip on the death trident and Consumed again. The madra channels running into his arm strained, and he could feel the binding warping under the flow of powerful energy, but he kept it up.
The trident he’d knocked away turned back to him, and Reigan Shen shot him a look of annoyance.
One of the tridents defending him from Yerin’s attacks peeled away and shot toward Lindon, leaving Lindon fighting three.