Elemental Cats

"Watch out!"

Toz didn't even have time to sigh in relief before Hal shouted. Toz had already sensed the attack. But he wasn't ready for the fact that it came from one of the armors Seich had already cut apart.

Seich's cut had been clean, like a surgeon's incision. Maybe that was why the armor got back up and repaired itself so quickly.

Toz could still see where Seich had cut the armor, and he focused on the obvious weak spot as he avoided an array of swords coming his way. He pierced his blazing sword into the armor's chest and filled it with roaring fire from inside.

Toz had to draw out his sword and dodge a second array of swords, so he didn't have time to pump a second round of fire into the armor. But he had still done enough to soften the armor and make it buckle to the ground in a reddish glow.

The other armors, unafraid of death, ignored their temporarily fallen comrade and charged toward Toz, the ghastly light in their helmets shining menacingly.

Toz slashed horizontally with his sword and unleashed a stream of fire on the armors.

"Toz, now!"

Toz was sure that he could defeat the armors if he had enough time. But the death attribute demonic energy leaking out of the Fountain of Death past the archway seeped into the armors and restored them at unbelievable speeds. If he wanted to win, he would have to destroy the armors beyond what they could recover. But doing so would take time or overwhelming firepower.

Toz and the others didn't infiltrate the depths of the Fortress of Death so that they could waste all their efforts in taking down a bunch of rusty armors right before they completed their mission.

So, Toz didn't hesitate.

He had intentionally drawn the armors away from the archway so that Hal and Braxton could enter the Fountain of Death and prepare. When they were ready, Hal shouted.

Following Hal's shout, Toz distanced himself from the armors and vanished from the spot, quickly reappearing by the archway.

The soldiers noticed him when he reappeared and rushed to catch up and prevent Toz from entering the Fountain of Death. But the armors were too slow.

As soon as Toz passed through the archway, a solid earth wall shot up out of the ground and filled the entrance to the Fountain of Death. The wall of earth and stone blocked the armors from entering the Fountain and Death and chasing after Toz and the others. But it wouldn't hold forever. Toz and the others would be lucky if it held long enough for them to destroy the actual Fountain of Death.

With no time to lose, Toz, Braxton, and Hal turned around to catch up to the other three, who had already located the Fountain. Not that it was very difficult.

Inside the chamber that lay behind the archway, there was nothing of note aside from the stone pedestal in the center with a misty grey orb the size of a person curled up in a fetal position resting on it. The chamber's high, domed ceiling made it look larger than it was. But none of the humans who had entered the chamber cared about the architecture of the room. Their gazes were all focused on the Fountain of Death.

It was impossible to tell if the foggy, grey water trickling out of the pedestal's four corner spouts came from the orb itself or below it. The water ran down the outside of the pedestal and into four furrows in the ground before flowing along those furrows to the chamber's walls. At that point, the water entered four separate holes, and Toz and the others couldn't tell where it would end up.

As the water continued trickling down the Fountain and ran away through the holes in the walls, mist rose from the Fountain and the four streams.

Toz and the others didn't need the mist to tell them that the water wasn't just water. It was death attribute demonic energy of such purity and density that it formed a liquid, and the mist was death attribute demonic energy that couldn't hold on to the water's density and filled the chamber instead.

The mist of demonic energy swirled around their ankles, trying to eat away at the mana protecting their bodies. The demonic energy battled furiously with their mana. Toz and the others could tell that it wouldn't have mattered if they had kept up the stealth until they entered the room or not since the demonic energy would have reacted as strongly to the mana hiding them.

The mist wasn't powerful enough to damage them in any other way than revealing them, but it was still wearing away at their mana. And Wyrie, who was especially low on mana, began urging the others to get to work. She didn't have much mana left, so if they didn't hurry, she wouldn't be able to amplify their attacks against the Fountain of Death.

The others understood her worries. They could also tell how dangerous it would be to get exposed to the thick death attribute demonic energy filling the chamber. It was purer than the demonic energy they encountered below ground and within the fortress, so the sensation of fear wasn't as overpowering, but that just made it scarier.

It was almost like the Fountain of Death and the demonic energy spewing forth from it wasn't that bad. Indulging in curiosity and touching the water wouldn't be so bad. The worst that could happen was that they didn't have to worry about failing their mission. That's nothing, right? Why not dip a finger or two in, maybe even take a sip?

Those kinds of thoughts rose in the minds of everyone.

Fortunately, no one in the mission was so weak-willed that they would fall for the Fountain of Death's lure. It sounded very tempting as long as one ignored the fact that they would die if they drank the water. And if they even just touched the water, they would probably lose a finger or two, depending on how much they could defend themselves against the demonic energy.