Klauthsura was a powerful mind flayer psion. As far as Renato knew, a mere Bury Alive spell could never truly trap him.
But nothing was certain. What if Klauthsura had depleted too much of his psionic reserves in the earlier fighting and spellcasting to escape from underground right away? Renato could not rule out that possibility.
Besides, the changes in the black-and-white sky overhead were growing increasingly violent. Darkness and light alternated at a dizzying pace, while the ground beneath his feet continued to shake and loose stones tumbled from the edges of the ruined dome.
Time was running out. The final act of the mythic battle would wait for no one.
So, despite being outnumbered and temporarily lacking a spellcaster to provide support, Renato attacked first.
Flowing winds lifted the warrior's body, and that weightless upward pull made his every movement swifter than on the ground. He deftly twisted in midair, evading the gray ray released from the Spider Mage's fingertips.
At the same time, Renato unfurled the second Magic Scroll he had prepared in his left hand and finished a quiet incantation.
As Stinking Cloud took effect, a thick mass of yellow-green vapor surged up from the center of the ruins, rapidly expanding and spreading.
The magical cloud, a mixture of poisonous mist and sulfurous gas, engulfed the halberd-bearing Nightwind Guards in the hall, obscuring their view of anything beyond it.
The female guards doubled over, choking, their violent coughs rising one after another. Tristana, enclosed within her Golden Divine Spell Shield, remained unaffected. She raised her head and spat venomous words, bringing Lolth's curse down upon the swordsman above.
The evil curse could have cracked the skin of an ordinary creature and left its organs bleeding until it died. Now, however, it merely made the black smoke