Esther Schovik raised her right hand to halt the march.
The other mages on seeing her , stopped moving and raised their alertness levels , suspecting that she was warning them of danger.
Having been told by their commander that she was the third most powerful mage on earth , everything she said had to be taken with the weight that it deserved.
Naaman stopped next to Hamilton , shielding his eyes from the hot midday sun.
“What’s happening ?” he asked.
“ I don’t know ,” Hamilton shrugged.
His mind was still wondering how Naaman knew about Caesar .
“This is the barrier ,” Esther announced, a quiet flame forming around her right hand.
Looking down , she could see the blowing sands stopping and collecting onto the vertical surface of an invisible barrier, unwilling to blow on over to the stretch of desert beyond that point.
“What is she doing?” Naaman watched with the rest of the mages as Esther brought her flaming hand forward , seemingly aiming it at the open desert.
She chanted something that only Naaman understood and a streak of fire similar to Hamilton’s Raging Furnace but many times more powerful shot forth.
The fire was momentarily stopped by the invisible barrier , but it was easily powerful enough to shatter a wide dimensional crack through , it revealing a dark jungle beyond . It was a complete contrast to the desert that they had been seeing.
Destroying the barrier had not been the purpose of sending out such a powerful attack , the real target had been the Soul Reaper that had been laying ambush for the mages just right outside the barrier.
The flames easily devoured it and the three Wailing Hounds it had enslaved.
“How did she know it was there ?” Hamilton wondered.
The protective dome created an illusion that obscured what lay beyond the oasis. Though the mages had prepared themselves mentally for this veil's supernatural properties , it would still never have occurred to them that a monster was just laying in wait outside. Just like them , it was not supposed to be able to see what lay beyond the barrier.
“ Stay back , there’s two more ,” Esther ordered them , slowly walking through the rift that she had created.
Just as she had suspected ,it may have been impossible to see the oasis from outside ,but there were exceptions. Soul Reapers were a different breed , being able to sense souls even through trans dimensional barriers.
[
System Intel
Stamina Residue = 100%
]
Esther smiled at the green screen before her.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Her attack that had easily shattered a boundary that could easily keep out ninety percent of the monsters in the world of Praiyas and that had barely broken a sweat on her. She hadn’t been in a fight for quite a while , so it was good to see that she was still in shape.
And since none of the other mages had followed her out of the barrier , there would be no harm in stretching her muscles a bit.
She started with blocking an attack from the second Soul Reaper , stopping its scythe mid strike with her bare hands.
“Want my soul , you’ll have to hit harder than that ,”she said as a burst of flames shot from her hand and set the scythe ablaze.
The metal on its blade didn’t take long to melt.
“ Now where was your other friend ,” she ignored the second Soul Reaper since it now no longer had a way to attack her effectively.
Her answer came quickly.
Another scythe , visibly larger than the one belonging to the second Soul Reaper , pierced through her back and emerged in front of her chest. A small trickle of blood came out of Esther’s nose in the process , trickling down to join the blood from the wound.
“You were able to get through me , so you must be one of the oldest Soul Reapers in Praiyas. I’m guessing you have a few thousand years under your hood ,” Esther smiled as the behemoth floated behind her.
As the hundreds of Wailing Hounds under the command of the third Soul Reaper started flying out of the dark forest headed for her , Esther’s body slowly left the ground and started floating just like the Soul Reaper behind her.
The grass and the rest of the foliage in the forest’s undergrowth gradually started erupting in flames, the crimson cinders from the leaves rising and starting to orbit around Esther.
The scythe lodged through her chest eventually grew too hot for the Soul Reaper , forcing it to let go. If it had gotten more time , then it might have stood a chance at trying to enslave her soul.
Finally free , Esther turned and met the Soul Reaper eye to eye. She stared into the deep dark void beyond its cape , her eyes not once blinking.
The scythe on her chest caught fire and melted off just like the other one had , leaving a nasty wound on her body that easily healed over.
[
System Intel
Stamina Residue = 99%
]
“ I wonder if you are able to store your soul in two hosts at the same time . I once read that in a book ,” her hair caught fire and turned into a beautiful bright orange just pulsing with energy.
The Soul Reaper , unsure of what to do , floated back a few metres.
“ Embers,” Esther took a small pause then whispered with a smirk.
The flames burning on the plants now started appearing on the bodies of the Wailing Hounds trying hard to jump and reach her.
Both Soul Reapers also started catching fire , the pain driving them mad once enough of the flames had taken root.
The second one tried floating away but by the time it was rising above the height of the tallest trees , its body was already disintegrating into ash and soot.
“The further away you are from me the hotter you’ll burn ,” she watched as the second reaper learnt that lesson the hard way.
“ Now , try something ,” she brought her gaze back down to the remaining third reaper as the last of the hounds burnt up.
The Soul Reaper , seeing that it stood no chance against the enforcer , decided to at least go down trying.
It came at her , flying at full speed with its claws headed for her head.
----------------------------------------
Hamilton and Naaman walked through the dimensional crack and were just in time to see Esther burn a hole through a ten foot colossus that went on to burn a trail nearly a kilometre long through the trees of the jungle. The fire spread on over to the adjacent trees, fueled by the highly flammable sap from the eucalyptus.
“ So that is what it means to be ranked third ,” Naaman commented , genuinely impressed by Esther’s performance. Esther could only just hide the smirk she wanted to throw at the hypocrite who was easily many times more powerful than her.
[
System Intel
Stamina Residue = 99%
]