"I don't know them, but the mana feels familiar," Alistair said, shrinking back to his normal form.
"Familiar? Like an old friend?"
"No. But they don't look that tough. What's the intel?"
"They work on contact, so don't let them touch you," Dilba warned, burning the slime off her blade. "And they don't multiply; they 'transfer' mass from elsewhere via a spell. It just looks like regeneration."
Disgusting, Alistair thought, looking at the meat-colored giants.
Suddenly, the chain artifact released a grey light. It acted as an anchor, extending spectral chains to every small frog and pulling them into the bodies of the three Alphas. Finally, the three-eyed frog absorbed the other two.
"A fusion? Is that what the artifact does?" Alistair narrowed his eyes.
Swish!
STAB!
A sound of tearing flesh echoed.
"Alistair!" Rie screamed.
Alistair stood there with a flying blade buried halfway into his chest. He pulled it out calmly, his wounds knitting back together instantly. "I'm fine. I know why this feels familiar now. This mana... it's a 'sister' to Joelya and the others. But this one is vicious."
The blade in his hand vibrated, trying to fly back to its master.
"Still want to play? Let's see how you handle this." Alistair's hand erupted in Azure Flames. The blade went silent immediately. "Telekinesis, flesh modification... you've been busy, haven't you?"
The 'frog' cluster undulated, forming into a four-armed, three-eyed humanoid golem. It was a grotesque war machine.
Rie dashed in, her scissors snapping at its waist, but the blades bounced off as if hitting diamond. The golem swung a heavy arm, but Rie blocked it and retreated toward Alistair.
"Impressive. That strike drained half its momentum," Alistair noted. The golem was a mindless tool—a vessel for mana. It didn't hide its strength; it simply functioned at the level of its battery.
"Rie, can you cut its connection to the master with your domain?" Dilba asked.
"I can't. The quality of that mana is higher than mine," Rie admitted, frustrated. Her domain was for 1-on-1 duels; it was extreme but lacked versatility.
"A war golem that can resist your domain?" Dilba was shocked.
"The creator is likely a Demigod," Alistair explained. "I've dealt with their kind before. The one controlling it now is just a puppet-master following orders."
"Azure Flames?" Dilba looked at the brilliant blue fire in Alistair's hand. "The flame that consumes mana?"
"You know of it? Right, my grandfather created you lot; you'd have some records of his 'gifts' to me."