CHAPTER 135: THE GENERAL DIVIDES

Blue and white stormlight flared around the Elemental General as a terrifying new ability emerged.

Hurricane’s Fury: When the Elemental General takes the form of a raging wind elemental, it gains Hurricane’s Fury, increasing attack speed by fifty percent. Each strike unleashes a conductive lightning chain that arcs through nearby enemies, with its damage rising by two hundred percent for each additional target struck.

Against a coordinated party, this ability could instantly tear through defenses. But against a lone opponent like Ryan, it was almost comical. In fact, it was even less threatening than Flame Empowerment. The first link of the lightning chain barely dealt two hundred damage; only if it bounced across five or more targets did the skill become truly devastating.

Behind Ryan, Agu, the Nyman Shaman, had already recalled the Flame Ward Totem and set down a new water totem: the Abyssal Armor Totem.

Abyssal Armor Totem: Allies affected by this totem gain a healing shield that absorbs five hundred spell damage. While the shield is active, their attack speed is reduced by one hundred percent. The shield renews itself every five seconds.

Ryan immediately noticed the difference. Ever since he had entrusted Agu with the Elemental cores, the shaman’s water totems had grown far stronger. Compared to his original four totems, this was a complete transformation. Curiously, the totems of the other elements had not changed at all. Ryan couldn’t help but wonder if the Elemental core only enhanced a single elemental lineage, or if the others simply hadn’t awakened yet.

As Ryan considered this, General Eldris’s health fell below sixty thousand. Another ability began to stir. Having already revealed Flame Empowerment for fire, Ice Mirror for water, and Hurricane’s Fury for wind, Ryan had no doubt the next ability would belong to earth.

A heavy yellow radiance spread from the general, sweeping away the storm of blue and white. The earth’s power descended.

Earth’s Wrath: When General Eldris channels the power of earth, his weapon is blessed by stone. Each strike has a chance to trigger a localized tremor, interrupting all spellcasting within a fifty-yard radius.

Again, the skill was designed for large-scale combat. Against Ryan, it was little more than a nuisance. He relied mostly on instant-cast abilities, and Agu—empowered by the Elemental core—had shifted to the same style. The Ancient Pact increased Ryan’s maximum health, while Earth Shield constantly replenished it. Tidal Force, though on a longer cooldown, still restored his vitality when needed. All of these were instant-cast, making them immune to Earth’s Wrath’s interruptions.

The tremors themselves were the only real problem. Each time one caught him, Ryan was knocked off his feet and stunned for two seconds. The chance wasn’t negligible either, hovering around twenty percent.

By the time the earth elemental phase faded, Eldris’s health had dropped to half, just above forty thousand. As the general returned to his fire form and prepared to unleash Flame Empowerment once again, Ryan’s relentless assault forced his health past the fifty percent threshold, triggering the start of a new phase.

As Ryan pressed his assault, the Elemental General bellowed, his voice rolling like thunder.

"Mortal, perhaps I should show you why I command all the elements!"

Rather than striking back, the towering creature roared defiantly, and Ryan seized the moment. He unleashed a flurry of attacks, tearing thousands of health from his opponent. Only after its health dropped by more than three thousand did General Eldris retaliate.

In an instant, the nearly ten-foot-tall elemental split apart. Its form divided cleanly, reshaping into two beings of equal size to Ryan. One gleamed with red and white light, the other shone with yellow and blue. Their names appeared the same: General Eldris’s Avatar.

Ryan understood immediately. This was the next phase. Eldris had split his strength in two, each avatar carrying half of his attributes. Worse still, both avatars wielded different elemental powers. As he watched, the red-and-white figure ignited into a blazing fire elemental, while the yellow-and-blue one hardened into the same form Eldris had used during Earth’s Wrath.

The moment their forms solidified, both avatars charged. Their strikes carried the same weight as the general’s full form. Ryan was now effectively battling two General Eldrises at once.

The situation grew even more dangerous when Agu, the Nyman Shaman, failed to replace the Flame Ward Totem. Ryan’s health plummeted faster under the relentless damage. Each tremor from the earth avatar’s Earth’s Wrath knocked him down, interrupting any spell he attempted to channel. Mana was running low, yet he couldn’t even restore himself with a health potion, its cooldown still ticking. Without the water totem’s slowing effect—which cut the avatars’ attack speed drastically—Ryan would already have been forced to consider abandoning the quest.

Flame Empowerment remained the greatest threat. Its sheer power was staggering. The fire damage alone was punishing enough, but the secondary burn was worse, more than doubling the pain of the seven-hundred damage strikes from the earth avatar. And this was despite the layered protections already in place: the Earth Armor Totem reducing spell damage by ten percent, and the Elemental Interruption Zone lowering it by another sixty. Together, they shaved a full seventy percent off enemy spells. Without them, a single attack from the fire avatar would have landed for over five thousand damage. Even with Ryan’s swollen health pool, he would never have survived long under that kind of assault. Divine Shield, his temporary invulnerability, would only have bought him seconds.

His health bar continued to slip lower despite constant healing. Relief only came when the two avatars paused, preparing new abilities. Ryan braced himself, expecting transformations into yet more elemental forms. He thought back to Ice Mirror’s unexpected danger, and the inevitability of Hurricane’s Fury.

Instead, the two avatars raised their voices in unison, the air quaking with their chant.

"Mortal, behold the majestic form of the Elemental General once more!"

To Ryan’s surprise, they did not transform into new elements. Instead, their bodies shimmered, drew closer, and merged back together into the towering frame of General Eldris.

Ryan scoffed, rolling his shoulders and readying his weapon. "And I’m supposed to be afraid of this?"

He didn’t even bother rushing the attack. Behind him, Agu’s healing spells washed over his body, restoring him to full strength as the elemental general loomed.