The King immediately cast his signature poison magic. Green, serpentine shapes appeared out of thin air before him, hissing at the three men as if they couldn't wait to sink their fangs into them.
Immediately, the snakes shot forth, only to be incinerated by a wave of fire.
Two flames covered Ignis' hands, though they did not burn him. "Do not assume that we've been sitting around doing nothing for all these years, Miragus." Ignis said.
Miragus merely grunted, before mocking the old mage. "Training so hard that you couldn't even find time to shave your beard?" He shot a massive green wave of magical poison, before summoning another set of serpent-like projectiles.
A massive wall of ice was quickly erected from the ground, blocking the wave and preventing it from reaching it's targets. This caused Miragus to narrow his eyes. "How troublesome. To think you've all become so powerful. It would appear that I must use my full power."
Poison mist surrounded Miragus as if it were his aura, and began to spread throughout the room. Countless serpents of massive size immediately began homing in on the three mages, barely getting repelled by Ignis and Nexal's combined efforts.
One serpent managed to get through, overcoming Ignis' flames, and 'bit' his left leg, dissipating afterwards. His leg quickly turned into a repulsive yellow, starting from the area the serpent made contact with, and began to transform into pure mana. Ignis fell over screaming as his body was turned into mana for Miragus to use, before dying mere seconds later due to the shock.
As Miragus was absorbing the mana, however, he noticed that his mana pool was nigh empty. He hadn't spent more than a 20th of his entire mana pool, and yet it was already depleted. His eyes widened in surprise as the source of his power was almost nil.
A chuckle escaped from the third mage known as Malum. He looked at Miragus as if to say "Surprised?" A satisfied look was on his pale face as he noticed Miragus' temporary speechlessness. Fitting payback for the man who cut off his tongue.
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The mana gained from Ignis would not be enough to last the entire fight, nor could Miragus cast anything with enough power to break through Nexal's defenses.
"Defense was never your strong suit, was it, snake?" Nexal spoke rhetorically. Countless spears of ice floated in the air above him. He took one last glance at the crumpled heap of red robes; the last remnant of the fire mage Ignis, with disgust, before firing his icy javelins at Miragus. Anyone who would resort to using such disgusting methods to regain mana should not be allowed to live.
Miragus nimbly dodged the first two icicles that came his way, but failed to avoid the third, which pierced through his left thigh before digging into the hard marble tiles, leaving him stuck where he was. It was almost as if fate itself was carrying out his punishment.
Five more javelins of ice pierced through Miragus' body, spraying the floors with blood. "You... Cannot kill... Me." He spoke with great difficulty due to his wounds. "I... Am immortal. No matter how many times-" He coughed violently, blood dripping from his mouth. "No matter how many times you slay me, I shall reincarnate... And return."
Nexal and Malum were unimpressed, as if they were expecting this. "That is where you are wrong. Your soul may be immortal. However, no longer shall it defile this world with it's presence." Nexal said matter-of-factly. "Malum, you may do the honours."
Malum grinned as he walked towards the fallen King, taking out an ominous black dagger with ancient runes engraved on it's blade. Once he was within arm's reach of Miragus, he raised the dagger high in the air, before bringing it down onto his chest, piercing his heart.
A purple light shined from the wound, and Miragus' vision faded into darkness. Before his body died, he could've sworn he heard Malum speak. "Farewell, your majesty, and may you suffer a fate worse than death."