Sorcerer… Cyborg???

Chapter 246: Distress Call

[Don't be too rash in engaging with the guards, Kothar. The strength of these invaders seems to be purely physical, you cannot gauge it based on their mana. If these guards are anywhere near as powerful as those who guarded the heart-] Silane started to warn Kothar, who interrupted her.

[Is there any other way for me to get to the control center?] He asked, knowing that if there were, Silane would have already found it, and he would be well on his way.

[No, there isn't. But still, please be careful, Kothar.] Silane knew her warning fell on deaf ears, with his home in danger, Kothar would not hold back on throwing himself into any sort of danger

[Just keep this in mind, if you're surrounded by guards again, there isn't going to be another fall from the ship to bail you out like when we left the heart.] Silane said finally, sighing a little.

[Alright.] Kothar replied, Silane's warnings already fading to the back of his mind, as he crept forward, hugging the wall. The corridor was so well lit that Kothar was in no way being as stealthy as he had been earlier, the issue was ,that there was no way for him to properly hide from the eyes of the guard up ahead.

As he drew closer Kothar could better see the guard, it seemed that Silane's fears were well founded, the guard was enormous, a whole head taller than the guards he had faced far below, with the same pale skin peeking out from beneath his armor.

The armor he wore had more of a dark metallic tint, Kothar was beginning to see a pattern in the materials that the invaders used.

For most purposes, they used the nondescript, gray, lightweight but almost stone-like material, and on the other end of the spectrum, was the dark, dull, metallic material that they used for things that had to be more durable.

Kothar thought back to the bars that had obstructed his entry into the heart, and the armor of those that guarded the heart, they had clearly used some sort of alloy between the two materials.

The guard in front of Kothar had armor that used more of the dark material in its construction, it was sure to be somewhat resistant against his attacks, perhaps not his Lightning Element spells, but definitely his physical attacks.

Kothar pushed his Skysteel blade upward, and drew it out of its sheath, taking care to make sure the blade didn't clash against the mental collar of the sheath, so that the distinctive scraping of a sword being drawn didn't alert the guard.

Next, he channeled his Lighting Element Mana into blade, and the faint humming that came from it increased in volume. At the same time, Kothar gathered a ball of lightning above his other palm, ready to strike the guard.

Kothar gently tossed the ball toward the guard, a soft crackling coming from the ball of blue lighting as it writhed and moved through the air.

It moved rapidly through the air, and Kothar followed it, taking long leaping steps toward the unaware guard.

The guard turned, moments before the Ball Lightning Spell struck, his mouth widening in surprise at the sight of strange blue light emitting from the odd ball in front of him, still not registering it as a threat.

Then, his eyes flicked to the hint of movement behind the ball of lightning, the glow from the Ball Lightning causing him to squint, and there, he saw Kothar, with a drawn blade, running toward him.

This made the guard register the danger he was in, and the staff was swung free from his back, and he reached toward his belt, in an odd gesture, reaching for a cylindrical device that had an obvious button at the top of it, densely covered in inscriptions.

[He's trying to raise the alarm!] Silane recognized the device for what it was, some sort of transmitter that would alert the guard's comrades of an enemy.

But even before the guard's meaty hands could clasp themselves around the device, a bright blue light completely filled his vision, as the Ball Lightning slammed into his head.

The guard fell to the ground, convulsing, the electrical signals within his brain going completely haywire, the powerful surge of electricity practically roasting his brian from the inside out.

Even as the guard convulsed and fell to the ground, Kothar was sweeping forward, his Skysteel blade humming as it darted forward, sliding into the slightest gap between his helmet and the chunky armor that covered his torso, cleanly opening up his neck, slitting his windpipe open, so that the guard was left gasping for breath, as blood filled his lungs..

[Pick up that warning device he was about to use, we might be able to use it to our advantage.] Silane said, as the guard tumbled over to the floor, a pool of blood forming around him.

Kothar reached down to the guard's belt, pulling the cylinder free from the clips that held it onto the guard's belt. 

[Try and feel if there's any sort of electromagnetic field within it. Even if they use living machinery, for this device to be able to warn others at a distance, it must be using some sort of electromagnetic frequency.] Silane instructed, she couldn't hide the curiosity she felt for the strange technology, even in the midst of such an important mission.

Kothar moved the device near to his belt, waiting for the inevitable disruption in the weak electromagnetic field that he maintained around himself. 

But there was nothing, even as Kothar moved the device back and forth, nothing at all happened.

[Maybe it only works once the switch is pressed. That would make sense, as that would likely be what completes the circuit.] Silane said, highlighting the inscriptions all over the device in Kothar's vision.

[So how am I going to use this?] Kothar asked, eager to move on to finding the control center, ideally without having to worry about guards waiting for him around every corner.