He groaned loudly, his human form returning and regretting every moment of it. It was bad enough that the first guy dealt a heavy blow that nearly burned his entire core to pieces.
Now this girl managed to somehow, despite all odds, send him away on a short journey straight into the ground. He barely managed to look up to find himself surrounded by the ground, obviously a crater his body made from the impact.
Everything hurt. A lot.
His Pain Resistance did a lot of heavy lifting, but it was mostly his pride that was shattered. The girl didn’t so much hurt but rather hit him with enough force to shock him out of his senses.
However, he was actually a little giddy. These kids were nowhere near his power, yet they stumped him at every chance they got. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. Of course, if he went truly all out, letting his Class rage and his attunement soar, he could easily tear out their throats without batting an eye.
But not once did he wish to do that. He felt that it would’ve been a horrible waste of talent. Sure, if they bored him to tears, they wouldn’t even be alive by now. But if they kept getting stronger, he knew deep within his gut that he would only get stronger in return.
Now if those two were to fight together against him at their current stage, would he have even managed to win? The idea excited him.
However, his current situation was not a good one. His father was already going mad trying to take out the boy who became a near god-like being, and that Runist hadn’t made a move so far. He wasn’t sure how that sort of power worked, but there was no way a mere Expert could handle such power on his own.
At one point or another, he would die. Then the rest of the townies would suffer. An idea germinated within his mind, which he always thought was small and feeble compared to his father.
An idea that would shake the very foundations of his life. An idea that, no matter the consequences, would change their way of living forever.
And soon he put it against the supposed future they would have. At this current state, his father’s debt would hit him, and who knows what might happen. As those two ideals fought for dominance in his mind, he searched within himself for an answer.
The answer came as easily as he breathed. He chuckled bitterly.
He was his mom’s kid, after all.
…..
“Die, you bastard!”
Roderick roared, summoning a storm of flames that would have easily burned an entire town in a heartbeat. As the purple flames cascaded over to the figure of pure mana, the figure remained steady and daunting, not moving at all.
The flames did nothing to the figure, as though a bit of wind passed across him. He already knew the futility, but he figured that pouring in more mana would suffice.
It would make sense that most magic attacks wouldn’t work. All across the fortress, his soldiers have been hammering away at the figure, the new king that has taken over the biodome.
Normally, they would have failed, but how was Roderick supposed to expect a giant monster to come along and beat the boss, and seemingly belonged to the puny town that should’ve, by all rights, belonged to him by now?
But by the gods’ blessings, the damn bastard stopped moving. Like a true giant, there was nothing of worth inside that head of his. He wasn’t quite sure what sort of skill or magic created this, but either the one that controlled it died from the overusage of his mana or he lost control due to the power output. As far as Roderick knew, there was no possible way that Eve Glade would have a mage that could control this power so easily.
So he chucked spell after spell, trying to take this figure down and bring this entire biodome to his control. It was only a matter of time.
He was also running out of time as several of the lords of that town desperately tried to undo his wall of purple flames surrounding him, pouring out every bit of power to take it down. It normally would have run out by now, but that wasn’t possible as his mana regeneration surged faster than normal, thanks to the specialized crafted glasses he wore.
But even that had its limit as he could feel the powerful Journeywoman trying to slam into his wall of flames with enough force to compare to the figure beyond him. Just what kind of power does that woman have?
Is she actually at Master-stage? Impossible, I should’ve felt that aura by then….
His idle thought irritated him, forcing him to focus solely on the figure of light. As always, it remained undaunted, but he could see cracks forming.
Its ephemeral surface of pure mana wasn’t indestructible. Even as the skills and spells seem to swirl within and consumed like a whirlpool, the intensity behind each blow was palpable, and slowly darker-hued blue cracks formed around its chest and shoulders. It moved ever so slightly, wobbling as though it couldn’t even understand what was happening to it. Soon it bellowed what sounded like death throes, a horrid wailing sound that was actually music to Roderick’s ears.
This was immensely much easier than fighting the Weaver. Roderick smiled, feeling its life erased by their hands. Soon, the biodome would be his, and everything would be alright.
“ZEEEEEKE!”
A resounding voice that nearly shook the biodome itself baffled everyone around. It belonged to a young woman, her leather armor nearly ripped apart and charred as though she went through hell and back.
Her very skin looked burnt, yet she persisted as she stood upright, glaring like she was ready to kill the figure in front.
Yet, she shouted what sounded like a name. Roderick quickly remembered the name of the supposed king, Zeke Parlow. Was she calling out to the figure?
But surely such a thing wouldn’t be possible. The figure of light couldn’t be so easily controlled, especially by some figure that had no right to command such power.
Yet the figure moved its head, facing directly at the young brown-haired maiden. Roderick gasped at the sight.
The figure seemed to have… understood what she was saying. It stared blankly at the young woman, turning slowly towards her direction. It looked down, considering the young woman.
Everyone paused at the sight. Despite victory being so close at hand, seeing the figure finally move, much less to the woman’s shout, made everyone freeze, including Roderick.
Now that she's gotten its attention, she shouted again. In fact, she did so while pointing… at Roderick.
“Kill that guy!” The young woman shouted, her voice still as loud as before. There was a clear sense of her body being ravaged, blood still seeping from the open wounds and her chest heaving drastically. “He’s our enemy! Kill that guy and we can go home!”
She spoke slowly but surely, speaking to the figure as though expecting it to work. Roderick was no fool, even if the chances of it happening was slim to none.
His flames swirled around his hands, directing his anger at the young woman who so brazenly called for his death. The woman in question turned back after sensing his power, ready to step back.
The other townies beckoned to her, arraying themselves to shield her. But it was too late. Every single one of them were just Experts–they would just turn to char as Roderick poured his flames outward to burn them all alive. But then the unthinkable happened.
A large barrier, the mana signature clearly belonging to the figure, surrounded the large townie group and took the flames head on.
Roderick widened to find his flames bearing no purchase as they dispersed apart, showing small cracks on the like before. Roderick looked back to find the figure lifting its hand to protect them, staring.
Right at him.
The figure shook as though in visible rage, then it roared, opening its normally non-existent mouth wide and revealing the brightly colored greenish glow from within. Its roar transcended the sound barrier, causing everyone around, including the townies, to cover their ears.
Then the bastard moved, raising its hands and curling into fists as it swung right at him.
Gods… dammit!
Roderick cursed as he poured all of his remaining power to defend himself against the figure’s attack.
…..
Honestly, Mikella didn’t think Zeke would listen to her in his current state. When she finally got up near the battlefield, all of the soldiers of Eve Glade facing against the Bastion soldiers, she noticed the lords fighting each other. Or rather, they were trying to fight against the lord that was constantly hitting Zeke with all the firepower he could muster.
The cracks that started to form on his body worried her. She didn’t know what it meant, but she wouldn’t like it if the mayor continued the outpour. So she ran up, her body still sizzling and charring from her earlier outburst of electricity. She roared his name and demanded him to attack the enemy.
And it worked. For a moment, he looked at her with those wide turquoise eyes, as though perceiving what she was saying and what he was looking at. For a moment, she thought she would be his next target.
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But in Zeke’s true fashion, once the lord picked up what she was getting at (she was screaming for his death at the top of her lungs, after all), and tried to eliminate her, Zeke protected her and the surrounding soldiers from his flames.
And now, Zeke was currently using his massive fists to beat the ever living shit out of the master-staged lord, defending himself with his purple flames acting like barriers.
The sheer audacity of the man to use his flames like Zeke’s barriers. Sure, they were stronger, but they sure as hell looked uncomfortable as hell to be within. Then again, she might just be extremely biased.
The other soldiers, Zacharia’s retinue that came over to aid her when the master tried to eliminate her, watched in wonder at the sight. They should’ve known that facing against the master wouldn’t end up well for them, yet they still ushered in to protect her when she tried to convince Zeke to fight.
Even if it was under orders, she was glad for their arrival. They looked back at her, getting a good glimpse of the fight between their barrier mage and the master user.
“Mikella, how did you know Zeke would listen?” Piker asked, being the first in line of the group. The others quickly nodded to his question, eagerly waiting for good news.
“Honestly, it was a gamble,” Mikella admitted. “But… I knew Zeke was still there. If I had to guess, it looked like he had only one goal when he became like that–then after that, he was sorta lost.”
“So you got here to guide him to a proper direction,” Piker nodded slowly, getting the others to agree.
Mikella let out a breath of relief. They saw a man with unparalleled power, and knew that they could also be in just as much danger. But it was proven that as long as Zeke had Mikella’s interest in heart, he’ll have their backs–which was shown quite well when he continued to bash onto the fortress, his giant fists not quite so dexterous enough to hit only the user of the purple flames.
She was glad that he listened, but she kept a steady eye around the vicinity. She also relayed how she fought against Zyler and managed to get away, only to reveal that he might still be around.
The soldiers quickly perked their ears up at that and kept a steady eye around. At this point, the bastion soldiers were just too unmotivated to even continue.
They sank to their knees, watching in horror at the figure ready to strike their leader down. The others were either cowering in fear, hiding themselves away, or just slinking into fetal positions and praying to whatever gods they adhere.
It was a sad sight, but this was war. She wasn’t even holding them in contempt anymore. Before, she would’ve shunned them for this kind of shameful behavior, but now, she only pitied the fools. What other choice did they have against this level of power? How many soldiers of their own died in the hands of such a small group?
Truthfully, she didn’t want to kill any more soldiers. Some looked young, almost the same age as hers. If they gave up like this and no longer want to start trouble, she definitely wouldn’t mind letting them go.
Even if imprisonment was in the works, seeing their army razed to the ground like this in just a matter of hours was probably enough of a punishment that would haunt them for years, perhaps decades to come.
She knew she wouldn’t forget this level of destruction. The lords eventually arrived to them, unable to do much else as they all made sure to do exactly one thing–
Stay the fuck away from Zeke. That should be easy enough. As long as they weren’t in his way, Zeke can just focus entirely on the master tier user. Even now, Roderick was constantly trying to defend himself against Zeke’s blows, either punching at the man or at the barrier whenever he got the chance.
The lords just watched in awe, their jobs nearly done. But even now, they kept an eye out for any potential troublemakers. There were actual true journeymen within the groups of soldiers, and the lords went after them to thin the numbers some more.
They left the job of observing Zeke to Mikella, the only one capable of handling the man as he was now. She was glad for that–she was worried that one mishap from them could make Zeke mistake them for enemies.
Still, her heart raced when the Master struck back with his purple flames, hitting Zeke across the face. There were more cracks showing across his placid face, which soon transformed into an enraged primal roar that felt so distant from Zeke’s own. But there was also pain and agony mixed into that roar.
Sometimes, it felt like it was the power itself responding rather than Zeke himself. Myra tugged at her shoulder, getting her to look back.
“Those cracks, aren’t they pretty serious?”
“I don’t know,” Mikella nodded. “But I do know Zeke’s reaching his limits. I just don’t know whether we should really get in there or not. Facing Roderick now is just gonna kill us, or we’ll get in his way.”
“Shit!” Piker shouted, getting her attention. “Zeke’s caught!”
Mikella looked back in horror to find Piker was right. Somehow, in the midst of the battle, the user was able to summon purple flames that actually binded Zeke’s arms and shoulders, stopping him in his tracks.
Sizzling could be heard from the distance even from here, and Zeke roared from pain as the ropes of pure flames dug into his ephemeral skin. There were more bluish cracks crossing his skin some more, becoming larger and wider.
Zeke tried to pull away, roaring like a captured beast. But Roderick smiled cruelly as he summoned more ropes of purple flames. They spread like tendrils and caught more of Zeke’s body, capturing his figure of light with ease.
More sizzling occurred, forcing Mikella to react. She didn’t know what to do, however. If nothing is done, the cracks take over, and eventually he’ll die.
Then an idea formed in her head. She wasn’t quite sure if it’ll work, but it’s the best chance she got. Since Zeke listened to her, it was possible to do it again.
But did she have what it takes?
“It looks like you have an idea,” Myra called out, grinning at her. “Whatever it is, do it! We’ll back you up!”
The others quickly nodded to Myra’s words, agreeing. She nodded back to them. She summoned her spear, not her sword. Adam the smith would have a field day with her once he found what she plans to do with this incredibly well-crafted spear.
Oh well. What can you do?
She rushed out, her spear in hand as she breathed in deeply. Then, she roared as loud as she could.
“Zeeeeke!” She screamed. “Give me all of your power! Right here!”
In that instance of pure determination in her voice, unwilling to cave even at this state, Zeke stopped roaring and turned back.
Everyone paused at her request. They didn’t know what she was planning, and if she was honest, she wasn’t sure either.
Mikella knew that Zeke would listen to her, but would he be able to understand her intent? Rather than just shouting it out, she also poured all of her will into the link between them.
She put up the image of what she wanted, no matter how scattered or chaotic it might look. She hoped, prayed that Zeke would understand after the long time they spent together, in and outside of combat.
A moment of understanding passed by Zeke, and as the bluish cracks began to grow larger across his body from the purple binds that were slowly consuming him–he vanished.
Tendrils of powerful bluish mana surged all around the fortress. The body of pure Mana just exploded and a burst of energy ensued like a raging torrent. The binds of purple flames dispersed as they no longer had a target to bind, much to Roderick’s shock.
For a solid moment, it was a beautiful sight. It was like glowing blue raindrops had a will of their own, and rather than falling to the ground, they flowed like a river, each glimmering bright, reflecting the drops of the rain. There were hints of green in there, giving off the impression of the earth and the sea colliding together into a mix-match of splendorous colors.
And all of that energy, that rising torrent like a waterfall given life and streaming across the air, were heading straight towards Mikella.
Uh-oh.
She cursed her habit of biting off more than she could chew, and deep inside she nearly squealed at how Zeke easily managed to understand her.
But then the torrent of energy hit her like a dam bursting forth, swallowing her whole.
Thankfully, it didn’t actually destroy anything around her. Like energy, it was like liquid and smoke mixed together to her surroundings, not hitting anyone physically. But the pressure was there, and Mikella felt it.
Oh, she felt it all. This pressure, the rising energy that was swirling and rising up from within. Each energy particle, each speck of energy infused into her body, coming in droves and droves. She feared that her mana pool would explode from within, forcing her channels to swell and burst like a hose being halted by a foot.
But rather than entering into her body fully, they swirled around her channels. It was a strange feeling. Thanks to her experience, she could feel the energy easily once it was inside of her. She could feel the dense magical energy actually circling around her channels, rather than filling her.
It was still too much, and she felt her body burn up worse than being burned by Zyler’s fiery claws. It was worse than the lightning strike she received to get her first attunement.
It was a flame that was so hot, it was about to burn her soul away. But she forced herself to focus.
With all that energy filling her, she demanded it to go to her spear instead. Along with that, she poured every bit of her own mana and stamina into her spear as well. She wanted something powerful enough to land a blow that would make even a master-staged user cry out in pain.
And everything followed her will. Everything, including Zeke’s immense power. It was possible that Zeke’s will was commanding the power, and it was aiding her own command to make it follow her order. She could only try to take in that immense power for her goal.
Strangely, ever so weirdly, she felt a will that was not her own or Zeke’s. It felt almost alien, but at the same time, she doesn’t fear it. It didn’t feel hostile, nor did it give her that feeling of a virus worming its way through.
It was like a presence that was always there for her. Perhaps even from birth. While that feeling felt strange, considering she was in another world, this certain presence wasn’t bad to be around with. Without really thinking about it, she thanked that presence, thanking it for protecting Clara, and for taking care of Zeke.
And thanked it once more for helping her with this fight.
Her eyes opened wide, looking back at her spear she held up as though she was aiming to throw. The spear was like a sun in her eyes, shining so brightly and filled with so much power. The enchantments were practically drowned out by this sudden power, replaced with the intensity that she desired.
Not just Zeke’s own mana, but her yellow-tinged mana that resembled lightning flowed along the spear. It wasn’t true lightning, per say, but her own version of her mana. The spear, combined with Zeke’s overwhelming current-like mana and Mikella’s lightning attuned mana, made a silent roar of power.
Powerful pressure ensued from her, forcing everyone around to back away. They would be there to help, for sure, but it was asking too much for them to be near something so powerful that it might be considered a nuclear bomb in her hands. Her body felt the backlash immediately, blood pouring out from her wounds opening from the intensity of the spear. Her eyes bled, crimson liquid streaming down her cheeks, under her nose, and from the corner of her lips.
She grinned. She stared directly at the master mage, looking back at her with shock in his eyes.
This was for everything that they went through. This attack, filled with every ounce of their willpower and rage, will finally go after the man responsible for so much despair and destruction.
And quite frankly, she had enough of his shit.
“Gooooo!”
She roared, her own voice replaced with a primal tinge as she lunged the spear straight at the man. A quake of pressurized air exploded from her hands.
The spear flew like a missle towards the master mage, leaving behind two raging trails of lightning yellow and ocean turquoise. Each energy trailed and formed like a spiral of crystalline colors as the spear flew straight at Mikella’s intended target.
Roderick however refused to accept such a generous offer of pure power. He conjured walls after walls of condensed purple flames, creating a plethora of flaming walls to stop the spear.
But none of them had the will behind like Zeke’s barriers. The spear, as though knowing this sort of weakness itself, smashed through each wall of flames and puncturing them outright. Once the spear crashed through every wall imaginable, it landed on the shocked Roderick’s chest in an explosion of power.
The spear dragged the screaming Roderick down, straight beyond their vision outside of the fortress, to gods knows where.
A small explosion soon occurred, marking the end of the fight. Mikella watched with joyful glee, knowing that their enemy was finished.
And as if her body recognized the fight was done, it turned off on her and forced her to drop like a ton of bricks. She only had a hint of people surrounding her before her awareness soon blackened.
She still had a mission to do. She still needed… to find her family.