@DivinityEven a glancing blow from the shadow lance nearly crushed the mage's shoulder. While his defensive magic was great, and the diamond-enhanced cloth was more than capable of withstanding the cutting force of the lance, his body was merely human in terms of durability. And this attack had been intended to rip through tanks. The experience would teach Corban in the most practical manner that Darquesse's powers relied on brute force over subtlety, but made up for their simplicity with the sheer quantity of brute force she brought to the field. Unfortunately for Darquesse, this would not prevent him from performing his rather elegant counter.
As the spell struck her, Darquesse could feel several areas in her brain shut down. It was a direct neurological assault that left her motor functions fried by destroying her nervous system, or at the very least shutting it down. Highly effective, this singular spell would most likely shut down most beings absolutely. Darquesse admired the effectiveness of it, even as she started to notice the ground shift around her. Unlike Corban, she was able to sense even minute movements in the Earth. It was an adaptation of the technique used with air that had originally been developed to catch Billy-ray Sanguine. As such she was well aware of the cage that closed around her, a thick layer of hardened diamond forming around her. She grinned, as she used her own earth magic to move it aside.... only to find that she couldn't.
Much like Corban, Darquesse didn't require movement to cast her spells, although she often preferred doing so. Most mages saw their bodies as a catalyst for spells, but Darquesse viewed this as a mere limitation on the mages themselves. Magic was a work of the mind, and the only reason most other mages required physical gestures was to help conceive what they were doing in their mind. It was a silly human limit, and one she had long left behind her. And yet, she now found it impossible to move this diamond around her, despite it falling well within the domain of her Earth magic. As she glared at it, she saw that Corban's magic was holding it in place. And while her magical capabilities were indeed great, the manipulation of Earth was the weakest of her disciplines, while Corban possessed far more skill on the subject. As the two arcane forces clashed to move the diamond barrier, Corban placed his power with efficiency and skill while Darquesse battered at it with her mind, her anger only further lowering the effectiveness of her power.
Then, for the first time, Darquesse realized she was trapped. This was an actual trap, and she was actually stuck in it. And if she didn't get out of here, she would be completely at this stranger's mercy. She, the great Darquesse, the Worldbreaker, would be at the mercy of some inconsequential mortal maggot. Fear and rage surged in equal measure, as the concept of her life at risk truly reached her. And as it did, the very earth began to shake. Rage and magic flowed through the ground and air, the very elements bending to her will. Darquesse's magical presence seemed to spike, as she pulled in all the arcane energy in the area, like a giant arcane fireball. All the stops were off, and Darquesse was about to unleash her full power, for the first time in ages.
The earth trembled and roiled, a whirlpool of darkness forming in the sky above. The very dead seemed to shift, their corpses standing up as their bodies were animated by solid shadow. Dozens of soldiers and beasts, from both sides of the battle. Limbs reattached themselves, as entire bodies regenerated before Corban's eyes. Animated puppets, manifestations of Darquesse's will. Their very blood a mere weapon for her, as they charged Corban with supernatural speed and strength, many others firing a barrage of bullets and lasers from multiple directions. Several launched into the air, an ability they had most certainly not possessed in life. Corban would find a barrage of attacks coming from all attacks as many of the corpses launched into melee, drawing power from the seemingly infinite wellspring that was Darquesse.
Deep below the ground, Darquesse was slowly ripping her way out of her cocoon. She had simply annihilated her useless nervous system with a quick use of fire magic, placed with the surgical precision of an expert. Her regeneration replaced it nearly instantly, once more granting her control of her limbs as her physical strength and magical shadows began pushing at the diamond cocoon. And even this barrier would slowly begin to crack under the force of her full power, an unending maelstrom of tearing winds and darkness forming a bubble of pure black deep under the ground. Once the walls of her cocoon fell, the pressure would create an explosion that could be felt even at the surface.
Corban would find himself in a precarious position indeed, as Darquesse was no longer holding back her true power. And he would soon find out just why she was called the Worldbreaker.
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