Sofia started with a similar setup to her battle with Ezerid. She made her barricade slightly larger knowing that she had enough time to bless it in the three seconds, and went with a single piercing bolt. She deemed the explosive one useless against someone who could survive two planets crashing into each other. She started to pre-cast a star, and instead of the skull choir went with the graveyard nymphs, thinking that it would be more appropriate, both to this battlefield and against a ‘Spiritforger’. The overall lower mana expenditure would give her more leeway to use [Runeforged Overlord] and Bookie’s summons, now invincible under this arena’s sunlight.

On his side, Sen slowly turned translucent like a ghost, and a set of ghostly infantry armor overlapped his usual toga. A bunch of rocks appeared in his right hand, which Sofia quickly identified as engraved mana rocks, one of the more expansive ways to make golem cores.

Sen then split into two. Then four. Then eight. Then sixteen. Again, and again, and again, and again.

Bookie! Kidjikkiks! Hundred Guardians and Soldiers, quick!

Sen stopped there. Two hundred and fifty six perfect copies of himself, a small army, with a variety of different spectral weapons appearing in their hands. The front two row holding large rectangular shields and long spears, while on the sides there were groups of swordsmen, and in the back, archers.

He was a summoner all this time!

I don’t even know where the real one is anymore!

Pareth stay with me for now, Pestle go wide, target the archers. Bookie you have command of the Kidj. Summon more if you need to!

The battle started as the Kidjikkik skeletons just started to appear.

The ghostly flames of Victory from The Glorious title engulfed all the Sen copies, though they did not react in the slightest, and a first volley of arrows was fired in Sofia’s direction right away. [Heat Death] sent her a signal for every single arrow that would hit her.

All unique attacks AND they would damage me?!

Not needing to wast any mana to defend against that, Sofia ducked behind her barricade, while she followed Pestle’s movements from a distance, and tried to locate the real Sen. This had killed both Mornn, Tartaros, and potentially Saria, so Sofia proceeded with extreme caution.

The arrows hit the barricade at the same time that Pestle started attacking the archers. The arrows did not pierce through the blessed wall of bones, but they were powerful enough to stick into it for a moment before being forced out by the wall healing itself. Cursed. Sofia noted. Pareth, Purify the wall.

The long-useless [Purification] skill was finally starting to shine as higher level people more often used curses. Meanwhile, Sofia monitored Pestle’s progress.

It looks like they reform right after she attacks them… She’s slowing down… Pestle, come back!

On the front line, the Kidjikkiks started to clash with the infantry Sens. Much like Pestle failing to inflict much real damage, the Kidjikkiks were in a standstill against the Sen shieldbearers, both sides unable to kill each other. So far the archers did not shoot a second time, and the groups of swordsmen on the sides were still on standby, Sen was clearly proceeding with as much caution as Sofia.

Pestle finally showed up behind the barricade again, covered in cursed mana that stuck to her bones like glue.

“No kill. Need find cores,” Pestle informed them as Pareth purified her.

Guessed as much.

Bookie was sitting immobile next to Sofia, holding his knees as his focus was on managing the Kidjikkiks. He slowly adjusted their formation, and made sure they could all cover each other from the cursed arrows if need be. Sofia grabbed a page of his book form at her waist, summoning Crowie.

Crowie, fly down the mountain this way. Sofia explained, pointing at the direction in front of her. When you’re far enough to be safe from the arrows, fly up as high as you can and circle the field, and here, hold this. Grabbing a vision token in his beak, Crowie flew away.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

The aerial view will help.

Sen seemed to have decided to kick things up a notch, as the two groups of swordsmen on the sides started to run around the Kidjikkiks. They were going to encircle Sofia’s little barricade. The Kidjikkiks tried to stop them, but an incoming rain of cursed arrows would hit them if they broke formation now.

It’s fine Bookie, let them through.

As the swordsmen drew closer, Sofia could finally observe the Sen copies up close, and confirmed her fears. Not only did they have no bones for her to toy with, though she already instinctively knew that, they were also as undead as could be. Both [Runeforged Overlord] and [Saintomancer’s Star] would be entirely useless in this duel, unless she could force the real Sen out of his spirit form. On the bright side, that meant Pareth would utterly decimate them with his quadruple damage against the undead.

Sofia decided to do just that.

You’re up, Pareth. She warned him before the graveyard nymphs appeared out of the ground, grabbing Sofia, Bookie and Pestle and bringing them down into the mountain.

From underneath, Sofia watched two scenes, on one side of her barricade, Pareth’s sword of light sliced through the endlessly reforming swordsmen like butter. And on the other, the two small armies were still face to face.

Found you. Sofia thought, instantly finding out the true location of every mana rock core, but also of the real Sen, who, despite looking exactly like every other spirit, had messed up by looking directly at her through the ground. Unsurprisingly he was hiding among the archers.

The archers all pointed their bows at the ground and shot in unison.

The graveyard nymphs were many times faster than the old graveyard skeletons, easily bringing Sofia and the others further down faster than the arrows could reach them.

Wait, there’s an open space under here?!

The nymphs let the group back into the physical world, falling into a golden temple built inside of the mountain that Sofia’s mana senses had somehow completely overlooked until now.

Ten copies of Sen appeared on the ground below, spears pointed up before Sofia could even land.

Should have expected that. Holding Bookie, Sofia deployed her wings and flew out of the way, while Pestle eagerly fell down into the squad of spearmen. She couldn’t kill them, but she slashed through them so thoroughly that they started to become an incoherent ghostly mist rather. Sofia flew back up toward the ceiling, a Nymph grabbing her extended hand.

Middle of the back row, the core is in his left foot! Sofia told Pestle, easily able to see it from the spirit plane. Pareth, switch to the giant flat hammer.

Pestle fell upon the ghostly core like a meteor, cracking the floor, and the squad of Sens immediately dissipated.

Next up, Sofia check Pareth’s vision. Somehow in the short time Sofia was away, the situation on top had escalated into Pareth fighting ghostly cavalrymen while avoiding the continuous assault of two mages hiding behind rows of shieldbearers.

Then Sofia felt a strange flow of mana coming through the golden temple. Shit! Pestle!

A swordsman Sen appeared right behind the Fairy. Being inside away from sunlight, she no longer had the solar immortality. Sofia’s warning came just in time for Pestle to notice the surprise attack and fly back. She pierced through the ghostly swordsman several times and it dissipated by itself, having no core to sustain it.

Here is not any safer than up there. Let’s go back. Sofia punched through a wall creating an opening to the outside, and flew directly out, avoiding to step into the spirit plane again for the moment, though the Nymphs were still waiting inside of the mountain. Finally out, she could catch the link to the token Crowie was carrying.

There are more of them than before. Sofia noted as she flew back up. She adjusted her trajectory to weave through two incoming waves of cursed arrows, and made it back to the top of the mountain. Pareth was surrounded, his health was intact but his mana was not, as he needed to keep cleansing the mounting curse on himself to be able to keep up. His gigantic hammer crushed one of the shieldbearers from top to bottom. It was one of the core-bearing ghosts, so a dozen others disappeared with him.

Nice hit! Careful, arrows coming your way.

Pestle hovered next to Sofia, “What do?”

Sofia summoned a bone cube under her feet, and gave it the blessing. The wall barricade on the plateau crumbled, but that let the Nymphs appear in this new ‘ground’. Sofia couldn’t find the real Sen this time, but she easily saw the twenty or so moving mana rock cores of Sen’s army.

“I’ll tell you where to strike,” Sofia answered, [Heat Death]ing away several spectral projectiles sent her way by the Sen mages.

Pareth, I’m an easy target in the sky now, but still in your grounds boundaries. Prepare your exoskeleton wings and keep your teleport ready, Pestle will take your place on the ground.

As if to prove Sofia right, three swordsmen Sen suddenly grew wings. Their mana flared up ominously as they rose up into the sky. Sofia smiled. Finally showing your true attacks, I was starting to get impatient.