Chapter 93: Fighting a mage
Ren looked at Sereth as she flew in the air. She did it so effortlessly that it seemed impossible. She folded her hands to show only two fingers on both hands. In one swift motion, she drew some runes right in the air, which connected to each other and then formed into a magic circle.
It glowed bright while covered in runes. She spread her hands apart, and the magical circle spread, becoming three times as large. She made another motion with her fingers, and then smaller magical circles formed around the large one, each one connecting to the center large one, creating a simple network.
’What the hell is she making?’ Ren thought. It was the first time he was seeing magic of this complexity, and as much as he was curious about it, he was also very worried about it.
When she was done, she drew a deep breath as if trying to calm herself after all the casting that she had just done.
"Now, survive." The words left her mouth, cold and detached, with no emotion. The center magical circle began spinning, and from the smaller circles, ice lances began firing at high speed, each one the size of a human head.
Ren saw the first ice lance come in fast. He moved his hand in a clean motion to block the attack, only for the ice lance to deflect at the last possible moment.
Ren froze for a moment, stunned by what had just happened. He was not able to stop the lance before it slammed into his chest and hurled him back, the tip of the lance stabbing a few inches into his chest. Blood poured out as he slammed into the ground and rolled to a stop on one knee.
Cough cough.
Ren coughed heavily.
’I did not see that coming at all.’
He did not have the time to waste down there. He raised his head and looked at the incoming ice lances. Very quickly, he used Dragon Breath. The flames slammed into the ice as he tried to melt them.
He managed to melt the ice, but more and more lances kept coming from the spell, and Ren was running out of breath fast. He gritted his teeth and poured out one large blast of flames that melted a ton of them.
He managed to clear them and create a short opening, enough for him to shoot into the air fast.
He locked his gaze on Sereth before she could look up and then used Gravity Manipulation as fast as he could. A massive purple pillar surged from the sky and came down.
She looked up fast and saw the pillar coming down. She raised one hand and created another rune pattern in the air, which then turned into a magical circle that became a dome around her.
BOOM!
The gravity slammed into the dome and caused the earth beneath her to shake. She managed to evade the attack, but because of that, her focus on the ice lances had reduced since her attention was split.
"This is my chance," he muttered and flew down to attack. But as he drew close and got within range, the magical circle that had been creating the ice lances vanished, and one magical circle formed on the ground under Ren.
Ren could not move in time as ice shot out of it and froze him right there in the air inside a massive ice structure.
Sereth looked at him in that state and then shook her head.
"Maybe I was wrong to think that you are the one that could make it to the top."
Ren heard those words, and they flipped the switch in his head.
"Can all of you stop underestimating me?!"
He said. Bolts of lightning formed around his hands and grew in size until they got powerful enough to blast him out of the ice, sending ice shards in every direction.
Sereth pulled back and moved her fingers. She created large ice lances in the air and hurled them at Ren, but rather than a normal block or dodge, Ren moved differently.
He swung his hands, and a massive arc of lightning ripped through the air and slashed through the ice lances. At the same time, he bolted forward fast, closing the distance between them.
Sereth got ready and created another magical circle, only for Ren to attack it before it fully formed, striking the center with lightning and shattering the spell.
She gritted her teeth and flew backwards to retreat while casting a spell. Balls of black-looking energy formed in the air around her and began firing down faster than bullets. Each one was the size of a human head.
They hit the ground and deleted massive chunks of the ground in an instant. If one even touched Ren, he would be deleted for sure.
"How the hell do you all keep getting these abilities?" he complained as he rushed, dodging the attacks as they came.
The spheres came at him all at once.
Ren moved.
He dropped low under the first two, feeling them pass over his back close enough that the air between them displaced. He twisted right, dodging one that came very close to his arm. He almost felt himself lose the entire arm.
’Get through this and get to her. She is a mage. I should be able to reach her and end this. Maybe she does not need special occasions like Aragath to win against her.’
He read the pattern as he moved through it, finding the gaps, threading between the spheres with the particular efficiency of someone who had stopped reacting and started navigating, each dodge flowing directly into the next without pause or recovery.
The last three came in tight formation, and he went straight through the middle of them, folding his body into the narrow gap between them and coming out the other side already accelerating.
Sereth’s eyes widened slightly.
He was already there.
His fist pulled back, aimed directly at her face, closing the final distance in a single explosive motion.