Chapter 252 – Flames, Mud, and Ice at War

Nathan Evenhart:

"It won't be that easy to take us down!" the demi-human shouted. Before I could react, a massive wave of mud surged toward me. I tried to leap away, but a stone spear shot out, striking my shoulder and throwing me off balance. The wave swallowed me whole, dragging me into its brutal current. I tumbled inside the viscous vortex, struggling desperately to free myself. With one last effort, I launched myself upward, managing to break the surface and gasp for air. But before I could celebrate, the mud around me solidified into stone, trapping me completely.

What is this? I'm stuck.

“Hahaha!” A mocking laugh echoed. Turning my head as much as I could, I saw the silhouette of the demi-human rushing toward me. Before I could react, a devastating kick hit me like a sledgehammer to the head. The impact shattered the hardened mud, and my body was flung violently backward.

For a brief moment, everything went dark. When I regained consciousness, I found myself bouncing off the ground like a rag doll. Each impact sent waves of pain through my body. Before I could regain my footing, I felt a crushing grip lift me off the ground. The demi-human held me by the neck with both hands, squeezing hard enough to shatter stone.

"You humans think you're so superior to demi-humans, but you're weak and pathetic," she snarled, her eyes gleaming with a mix of contempt and sadistic pleasure. "We're stronger than you in every way: better endurance, better agility, sharper vision, superior smell, better hearing. You're fragile!"

I tried to raise my arms to push her away, but as she squeezed, a stream of mud began forming in her hands, covering my body. The mud hardened quickly, immobilizing my limbs. My breath grew shallower, my throat burned with pain, and my vision started to fade.

"Shit..." I muttered, attempting to generate electricity to free myself, but the mud blocked the conduction. Even her hands, protected by the hardened layer, were unaffected by my sparks.

"Even a demi-human child is stronger than you!" she screamed, squeezing my neck even harder as if she wanted to pop my head off my shoulders.

"You're... right..." I murmured weakly, the pain radiating through every part of me. "You really are better at everything... even this!"

With one last desperate effort, I opened my mouth and let out a guttural scream, packed with raw electrical energy. The force of the wind amplified the sound, turning it into a monstrous roar that echoed like thunder. The demi-human cried out in agony, dropping me instantly as she clutched her ears in pain. The mud prison shattered under the sheer pressure of the energy released, crumbling like glass.

"Shove your super hearing up your ass!"I yelled, surging forward with all my strength and landing a direct punch to her face. The impact sent her flying. I didn't hesitate. Lightning crackled across my skin as I sprinted at full speed and delivered a devastating kick. She staggered, but I was already on her, charging energy into my hand.

I unleashed a thunderbolt point-blank. The shockwave sent her hurtling backward, her screams of pain cutting through the chaos. I gave her no respite. My body surged with electricity as I closed the distance again, raining punches on her face as she fell to the ground. Each blow crackled with sparks, each hit more ferocious than the last. Her face smashed into the dirt, the dull sound of my strikes reverberating through the battlefield.

Grabbing her by the neck, I poured more electricity into her body. Her muscles convulsed uncontrollably as she screamed, and I lifted her high into the air. I looked up at the storm cloud still swirling above.

"Let's see who can handle electricity better!" I snarled, summoning energy from the storm cloud above. A thunderbolt descended with immense force, striking her directly. The electricity surged through her body, only to return to me. I channeled the energy back into her, creating a deadly loop. Her screams grew weaker as her resistance faltered.

When I felt her body reach its limit, I hurled her with all my strength toward the castle. She crashed through a window, shards of glass scattering in every direction, landing with a resounding thud inside.

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Before I could catch my breath, a sharp, searing pain tore through my body. A stone spear shot at blinding speed and pierced my abdomen. The impact hurled me backward with brutal force, slamming me into a wall. The sound of splintering wood mixed with the choked cry that escaped my lips.

The spear shattered as I hit the ground, my body collapsing with a heavy thud. Blood poured from the wound, the pain pounding with each heartbeat.

"Shit..." I muttered, spitting blood as my vision blurred between reality and the encroaching darkness.

Looking around, I realized I had fallen near the ice mage. He was groaning in pain, unable to stand. His frail body and the earlier lightning strike had clearly incapacitated him. My breathing was a mix of fury and exhaustion, yet I forced myself to my feet and stumbled toward him.

Without hesitation, I began unleashing bolts of lightning in his direction. The mage screamed, rolling on the ground, trying to escape. I closed the distance before he could recover. Grabbing his face with both hands, I pinned him down.

"Seeing you wield this element..." I growled, my voice trembling with anger, "it reminds me of someone. Someone who's hurting because of you bastards!" I pressed my thumbs into his eyes with all my strength.

His agonized screams echoed in my mind, fueling my fury. I channeled electricity into my hands, letting the energy surge directly into his face. The stench of burning flesh filled the air as he writhed violently beneath me, but I didn't let go.

I watched as his face darkened, his skin charring and melting like wax. His cheek was gone, exposing his jaw as he tried to cast magic in desperation, but it was too late. Pain and destruction consumed him. My body was nearing its limit, but my rage kept me moving.

Suddenly, a shard of ice struck me, launched by the mage in a final act of defiance. The impact sent me flying backward, crashing against the wall of a house.

"Ahh!" I groaned, an unbearable pain radiating through my torso. My vision blurred, and my chest felt like it was caught in a vice. My breathing became shallow, almost nonexistent. The world around me began to fade, and a dreadful numbness seeped into every fiber of my being.

"What... is happening to me?" I murmured, trying to comprehend. My head felt impossibly heavy, and my limbs were freezing. The cold invaded every corner of my body, stealing my strength. I staggered, trying to hold myself up, but the ground came up too fast, and I fell to my knees.

I touched my stomach with trembling fingers and felt it. A layer of ice coating my skin. My senses finally registered the gravity of the situation.

"Shit... it's hypothermia..." I whispered, panic setting in. My breathing quickened, though it felt impossible to draw air. My heart pounded erratically, as if fighting to keep going. I was dying.

Desperately, I tried to tear the ice away, but as I moved my hand, it refused to respond. My body was exhausted, utterly vulnerable. The attack had hit me squarely. Every movement was futile, and my vision darkened further.

In the distance, I noticed a figure darting between the houses.

Damn it!

Another mage was closing in on me.

My mind was racing in panic. I tried to summon fire, to tap into the power of my Special Eyes to heat my body, but nothing happened. Magic seemed to falter. My breathing grew heavier, each second making it harder to draw air.

I looked up at the storm cloud still lingering above me, my only chance. With a grim determination, I deactivated all the mana in my body, knowing the pain would be unbearable. Without hesitating, I gave the command.

A deafening ‘KABOOM!’ ripped through the sky. A piercing blue light tore down from the heavens and struck me.

"AHH!" I screamed as the lightning coursed through me. The searing energy surged through every fiber of my being.

My body reacted instinctively, leaping from the sheer force of the electricity. The ice that bound me shattered into fragments, and the deadly cold was replaced by a burning, fiery agony that engulfed me entirely.

I stood again, though barely. My body trembled, my legs weak, my skin blistered and scorched by the lightning’s unforgiving embrace. Blood spewed from my mouth onto the ground, but adrenaline kept me upright.

I looked ahead. The ice mage lay sprawled on the ground, blind and screaming in agony, firing off spells erratically in every direction. Then, abruptly, his arms fell limp at his sides, and he collapsed. He might have been dead or merely unconscious, but either way, he was no longer a threat. One problem down.

I staggered, nearly collapsing again, but leaned against a wall for support, every bone in my body protesting with each move. My entire frame was wrecked, broken ribs, bleeding wounds, and an unrelenting pain that gnawed at me, threatening to pull me under.

I glanced at my wrist, where my salvation should have been: my storage bracelet.

It was cracked, broken during the fight. Its contents had spilled out, scattered somewhere amidst the chaos, including my healing potion.

"Great..." I muttered, almost laughing at the cruel irony, before crumpling to the ground. I tried to electrify my own body to force myself upright, but the strength wouldn’t come.

Before I could react, an intense orange glow flared on the horizon. The fire mage’s attack was headed straight for me, a blazing inferno consuming everything in its path. Houses exploded in fiery succession, the overwhelming heat swallowing the air around me.

There was no time to think. The blast reached me, and the world erupted into chaos. Everything around me was consumed by fire and destruction.