The chimaera master himself. An opponent no one expected simply because it made no sense. For a Blossoming wizard to personally act was strange, but for it to then be a creator of monsters?

“It’s certainly an interesting thing, but I seem to have reached you before enough mana was gathered. Quite fortunate since you killed my most precious pet,” his smile retreated, in place a blank face which hid an incredible amount of spite. Weeks of obsession reined in any madness others might assume of him, all that remained was a cold, hard logic and the remnants of desire.

However, the sight of fear on their faces brought back those sweet feelings. It happened so long ago that he completely forgot, but at some point, the screams of agony from those who begged for death brought excitement and joy. That did not mean he stupidly stepped into the array which logically lacked the mana to operate, instead side-stepping the whole thing but with occasional stares.

But only the portions filled with a blue metal caught his eye. Nothing else mattered compared to those four spots.

Rebecca couldn’t help but ask, her form not even invisible, “The behemoth you mean? You didn’t have another master tier chimaera?” Even if frightened and at wit’s end, they all wanted answers before this fight.

“You thought I had another masterpiece?! That’s a sweet imagination you have there, but creating a chimaera at this level without a great language is impossible. Surely the young dragon knows– AH! Forgive me, young adult dragon. Your wings seem half-developed,” he spoke whilst analysing the array, and completely ignored their group whose weapons already entered a defensive stance. A smile on his face made its appearance once more when he stared at Icy.

Indeed, a bulk of his ‘wingbone’ formed these past couple weeks. Previously just two tiny bumps, now he saw a slender limb-like appendage grow out from them.

Furthermore, while scales coated this wingbone, the density lacked in comparison to his body, and so gaps appeared. But beneath the scales was a strange, yellow substance. In fear that he interfered with his growth phase, he didn’t remove and analyse it, so no one actually knew the exact substance.

“I just don’t understand how you found us under a spatial bubble,” Mala raised her own question as the reality made no sense to her. None of the chimaeras they saw ever used such advanced detection spells, and even if there had been one… She refused to believe Icy’s eyes never saw it.

“That was a bit of luck. You walked past one of my hideouts, and I investigated as a precaution. I do have a few chimaeras embedded with the eyes of spatial beasts.” The way he answered their question hardly befit a time wherein they fought soon after. “Any other questions?”

Mala clicked her tongue, maddened by the fact that a single array they happened to walk past became their downfall.

“I have one then,” Icy spoke up now, and took a few steps closer towards the array’s edge as well. The two stood at a right-angle to each other, where he asked, “How does that relic work? It hides your demon characteristics perfectly, but I saw through it easily on your subordinates.” Icy just bought some time for himself, a way out existed, it had to!

But whether it worked depended on one thing.

“That’s because they just had a bastardised power engraved on their bodies, it drew on the true relic’s power to grant them some shielding to all lesser methods. However, a real relic can even block the eyes of gods, of course greater powers can’t see through it,” his response used terms that took a little time to infer.

Only powers which made use of great languages, or on par with them, could see through the weakened power. Icy’s eyes only saw a normal elf in a loose robe, if not for a face plastered across the continent he’d hardly be on edge against this being.

Icy couldn’t see the mana inside his body, and so mana sight effectively turned useless. However, as the chimaera master leaned forward ever so slightly to better grasp the array, he understood no better chance existed.

The link collapsed and an initial burst of power sucked in the demon elf. He never expected the dragon to waste his time on such an unpowered array, and caught unaware by the surge of power, he failed to correct himself before a large barrier covered the entire thing. However, he hadn’t even travelled halfway to the array’s Base and already completely understood the barrier’s power.

“A focused gravity well and a force accelerator. Not a bad choice to actually get me in here, but just an Intermediate barrier spell? At least I was right.” He sneered alongside these words, disgruntled that with such an incredible array the dragon hoped to suppress him with a measly barrier.

While the white translucent barrier appeared normal at first, another look revealed the white to be a strange mist which floated within the extraordinarily thin barrier!

And the longer it existed, the more one saw small crystals which twinkled as though tiny diamonds coated the whole barrier. A passive enhancement solely achieved by the barrier and cobalt stardust’s affinity.

“That we lack mana? Would you like to see it then? A bit experimental, but you’ll be able to see the method I use to pay for your pet’s insurance,” Icy laughed a bit at the words which hopefully mimicked the chimaera master’s mannerism. But when that elf followed along, it was to laugh at the dragon’s hopeful thoughts.

The array sprung to life, almost dry to the bone with every channel in constant need for mana, but no one to offer any. Instantly, a burst of mana escaped Icy, just 70% of his MP in one go, all of it forced into the array to fully activate its Base. Once that worked completely, he watched a large portion of it travel outwards to the Effect region and prepared for the very first test of this special array.

“You’ll power it yourself? And here I thought you prepared a ridiculous mana crystal!” His laughter passed through the white, sparkling barrier with ease, but Icy’s confidence remained.

Within his Mind palace, it took just a single thought for the valves on almost fifty glass chambers, filled to the brim with an azure fluid, to flip open, however, not a single drop of mana suddenly rushed out of them. Instead, Icy extended his thoughts to draw open the first chamber, and from it, a stream of the glowing blue fluid escaped as a snake of water. It left his Mind palace, and akin to the first, all the rest followed in a line.

Once outside, he directed all of them into a port for mana, and told a previously dismissive wizard, “You already lost. Spirit, you know what to do.” Beside the dragon, a golden apparition appeared in its likeness but with fully grown wings.

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They both stood outside, but the chimaera master couldn’t grasp what role this new ‘spirit’ performed.

As the snakes of liquid mana flowed into the array without end, just one already shocked the wizard. A dragon of this size should never possess such mana capacity, however, at ten he almost stared at the young beast, dumbstruck. But in immense danger, he gulped as more snakes followed and immediately realised that the dragon never bluffed. They possessed the mana to power it alone. A rapier with a silver handguard appeared in his hand, ready to cut through the barrier and escape.

This method took less time than the single second required for a strong enough spell.

However, the dragon’s words were not unfounded. The moment that blade appeared in his right hand, the northern cobalt blue runes flashed with a sky blue light, but that sword-wielding wizard felt nothing afterwards. At first, it seemed no more than a cheap illusion, or maybe a trick to stall him…

But then his rapier clanged as it hit the ground, no longer tightly held. Through the back of his right hand pierced a white blade of light. Already half-way through, yet not a drop of pain.

The hand now refused to tense up, weak and limp in a relaxed state. Not only that, but his entire right arm no longer responded, his whole limb dangled against his side. Yet the effects only worsened. A second blade of light came from the southern markings, it stabbed through his left hand, too fast for a wizard to react, and immediately, control over his whole body vanished.

Of course, he knew it was a mere physical effect. Mana within him surged, ready to push out both blades of light, but hardly did a chance appear.

The spirit, previously brightly lit in gold, dulled to a golden brown akin to caramel or toffee, now so empty that it quietly returned. However, what flooded the array now was not just mana, and the effects of the two remaining sections made excellent use of it.

A crown of blades wrapped around his head, its appearance of a barbed wire wreath with short but thick blades all the way round. Every last one pointed inwards, and from the moment they appeared, the wreath tightened… All the way until it perfectly fit on the demon elf’s head.

However, these blades differed from the two which chained his body. The wire wreath formed from an identical white light, but he frowned at the sight of blades coated in gold. Even an inept fool noticed that this gold deeply penetrated the blades, far more than an aesthetic choice, as though the core of the spell itself changed drastically. But a further analysis never arrived for him.

His body spasmed for several seconds, and mana suddenly disappeared in every way! Whether the air around him or what resided within, neither of the two appeared in his eyes. From there, his soul went dim, and his mind failed to locate its own palace!

A complete seal! So many questions ran through his mind, but none of it made sense.

Lastly, the fourth marking at the west side. The side in front of him, where the dragon stood with a smile.

A golden mist filled the barrier, and soon from a faint spray turned into a dense fog much like the Stormwall. None of them saw within, even Icy’s Elder eyes barely penetrated half a metre through, but as the seconds ticked by, that golden fog reduced until a clear space remained. They all saw it clearly, every cell of their opponent coated in that substance, a clear indication that everything worked perfectly.

Except for one part.

“Interesting, it seems the offensive power of each is the same as their original,” Icy quickly realised the problem, as did Mala. From Icy’s past experience they expected both the suppressive effects and direct power to increase in tandem. However, they now realised their incorrect assumption.

Which also meant they knew to correct the mistakes made.

“Five seconds left. Will you be alright?” Mala already knew the rate at which the three active sides drew mana at, everyone readied themselves. She and Darak already cast whatever Adept spells they knew to empower the group.

Mostly just strength, defence, and speed, but just these three things made a wealth of difference here.

As the timer hit the final second, the crown of golden blades transformed. Its white wreath vanished, but the dozen blades which pierced their foe’s skull remained, wedged deeply. All four warriors rushed forth, and just as they hit the barrier’s edge, it suddenly disappeared. They appeared directly around the chained up chimaera master, with weapons readied.

Four blades slashed, stabbed, and cut… Just as the timer hit zero.

The two white blades in either hand vanished, and while their opponent regained control, the unbelievable drop in power only just raised both arms to two blades aimed for his neck. An unreasonably fast speed, but only enough to hold back either weapon after they drew blood.

However, even with so many wounds, not a single drop of blood actually escaped the wizard’s body. A quick glance at any of them revealed that layers of compact crystal resided within.

Without blood within, how could there be any to leak?

Both hands shook crazily as they resisted the physical strength of enhanced Mithril ranks, both blades bathed in mystical light as their enchantments glowed brightly. In a last ditch effort, he snapped both fingers and thought of the two warriors’ faces. One with a giant greatsword, and the other that strange child.

Two balls of flame appeared in front of either and blew up instantly. Korridan and Raccelline, the two targeted, felt the heat which at least compared to an Intermediate fire spell.

Everyone except the lone fire-resistant warrior retreated while Mala gave a rushed analysis, “Self-cast instant spells still work it seems. Can you see it?”

A stream of six arrows fired towards the chimaera master as he somehow pushed back Korridan’s greatsword with both bare hands. The six arrows struck simultaneously, even if fired consecutively, and the combination resulted in a force which lifted their body up. His hands slipped off the blade for a moment from the sudden movement.

Korridan already prepared for the opportunity, his massive blade slammed into the rising chimaera master’s stomach, its bright enchantments dulled as the blade sliced and hacked through crystal. The blade suddenly turned and charged towards the ground, a heavy smash shook the stone block beneath, but the whole object remained intact.

A snap sounded out, and the greatsword suddenly rang out as it hit stone. Behind him, the chimaera master stood beside their dropped rapier and hurriedly picked it up.

Not that Mala allowed that chance, as her spell completed. A seemingly delicate butterfly of lightning flew over, every wingbeat emanated arcs of white lightning as it travelled at least fifteen metres in less than half a second. Once it landed on the wizard’s wrist, shackles of grey lightning appeared on both, and the two pulled together. Unable to dodge or block, he was forced to receive two more stabs in the chest but barely turned his body, so neither reached his heart.

Both of the elf’s fingers snapped once more, and a slim band of stone also wrapped around each wrist. The lightning dissipated and he held back Korridan’s blade with just one hand this time.

Icy finally responded after an astute observation, “I see it, but it's too quick.” For just a moment after his fingers snapped, mana automatically escaped the elf’s body and formed a spell. A process identical to Draconic Incantations.

But that just allowed him to see the mana… Not the spell’s actual danger. Let alone warn them all in time.

With every passing second, the seal they worked so hard to produce loosened. The power of Origin Force and a great language truly went above and beyond, its seal perfect, if not for Icy’s own limitations. Time slowly ran out, the crystal body of a Blossoming wizard is not so easy to destroy, and if that golden fog reached a certain level, then their blades were no different than toys. Icy’s mana recovered to a safer level, and his spirit regained a bit of lustre…

But it was hardly enough… More. They still needed more.