Chapter 254 – The Blue Hell and the Lightning Bde

  Nathan Evenhart:

  An e glow cut through the rain toward me. I propelled myself with wind, dodging at the st sed and crashing to the ground with difficulty. The impact was harsh, and the spshes of mud momentarily blinded me. A fire bst had struck exactly where I had been standing moments ago.

  I mao pinpoint the fire mage amidst the chaos.

  Now, only the earth mage remains...

  The storm dome that onveloped the fortress had dissipated during the battle, leaving only scattered clouds in the sky. A steady drizzle mingled with the st of burning and blood in the air. Explosions all around drowned out any sounds of the ongoing war outside the fortress. I wao know how the battle rogressing, but there wasn’t time.

  A nearby explosion forced me to sidestep, stumbling away as stone and wooden debris rained around me. Fmes licked at houses, and fming arrows fell like deadly rain, slig through the air with a fiery hiss. In front of me, a house colpsed in a wave of fire and rubble. Shielding my face, I braced myself. The bst's forearly knocked me over, but I mao stay on my feet.

  Suddenly, a blue fireball tore through the darkness, smming into the ground with a thunderous explosion that shook the earth. I jured wind barriers, trying to tain the fmes and the bst’s impact, but the sheer force hurled me backward, rolling across the muddy ground. The fmes grazed me, scorg my skin and tearing at my clothes as I struggled to rise.

  More fireballs followed, eaore devastating tha. I shot bolts of lightning at them, destroying some before they could reach me. A particurly close explosion forced me to retreat again. Desperate, I stomped the ground, eling thunderous energy. The earth responded, lifting debris and fragments, which I hurled as projectiles toward the fire mage.

  I rushed at him, watg as he leaped nimbly onto the top of a watchtower. From there, he unleashed another barrage of fireballs, f me to zigzag through the burning street. The entire area was abze, the oppressive heat making the air nearly uhable.

  With no other option, I dove through the shattered window of an abandoned house. Outside, I heard the roar of another explosion, and the street I had just crossed was ed by blue fire. The heat radiated through the walls of the house. Gasping for air, I fought against the pain and exhaustion, trying to gather my strength for the move.

  He’s still oower… I o take him down before the e gets here.

  Bursting out of the burning house, I unched myself into the air with a burst of wind. Gathering mana in my hand, I jured a spear of wind, its core crag with electricity. The glowing on illumihe dark battlefield, the thunderous energy coiling around it like a living force. With a firm motion, I hurled the spear at the fire mage’s tower.

  The on streaked through the air, its impa the tower creating a deafening explosion. Debris rained down as the structure crumbled in a cloud of fire and dust. Yet, the fire mage leapt away at the st moment, nding on a nearby tower, keeping his tactical advaact.

  "You're no ordinary mage," he shouted from his new perch. "Who taught you magic like this? The kingdom knows nothing of your family's magical capabilities. The Evenhart Duchy is renowned for farming, not military training."

  He unleashed more fireballs and gusts of wind, each attack precise ahal. I dodged eae, sing for an opening to terattack. The battlefield around me was a chaotic wastend of craters and debris, with every sed narrowing my options.

  "My family knows a thing or two about magid bat," I muttered, skillfully dodging another fireball as I analyzed my options.

  "That's against the kingdom's regutions," the fire mage ughed, his fmes illuminating the desote battlefield. "Your family never disclosed their capabilities to the kingdom. You're supposed to be Builders, not warriors. It is forbidden by the kingdom to possess this level of military capability without permission.”

  "Fuck the kingdom," I replied coldly, my voice ced with pt.

  Out of the er of my eye, I spotted the earth mage running along the ruined walls, seemingly assessing the battlefield. He had yet to engage directly, likely waiting for the right moment to act.

  "I uand your disdain," the fire mage tinued, his tone dripping with irony as he unched more fireballs in my dire. "The kingdom seeks to trol its vassals, especially the dukes. You rule strategic territories, so any sign of power rising makes them uneasy. They keep everyone under stant surveilnce, yet they 't openly oppress you. After all, the people reize your authority first."

  I raised my hand, attempting once again to summon the Cursed Bde, but it didn’t respond.

  "That sword of yours is a problem," the fire mage said with a sly grin. "Your strange magrick won't work. I stored it inside my ste bracelet. Once you're dead, I'll be more than happy to keep that ented reliyself."

  "I see…" I murmured, my words heavy with frustration and exhaustion.

  Without wasting time, I leapt into the air, rushing toward him as I jured a bde of wind with thunder pulsing at its core. Each step reverberated through the air, my determination outweighing the pain my body relentlessly reminded me of.

  He reacted immediately, summoning dozens of fming birds that soared toward me, their wings leaving scorg trails in the sky. I hurled my wind-thunder bde, detonating it mid-flight. The resulting explosions tore through the air, obliterating the fming birds one by one. Gusts of wind and bursts of electricity scattered across the battlefield, but he moved quickly, weaving through the wreckage of houses and tering with more fireballs.

  I surged forward, and so did he. We both leapt simultaneously, verging mid-air. At the moment of impact, I jured a wind barrier in front of me. He hadn’t anticipated it, and the collision caught him off guard. I seized the opportunity, rotating the barrier like a spinning shield and smming it into him with force, sending him flying.

  He hit the ground but quickly recovered, using fmes to propel himself bato an attag position. With a swift kick, he unched a boulder into the air and used fire to hurl it toward me. I narrowly dodged it and immediately sent a jolt of electricity through the water pooled around us.

  He didn’t see it ing. His eyes widened as the shock coursed through him. Seizing the moment, I dashed forward, ready to finish him off. At the st sed, however, he erupted in a torrent of fmes, f me to retreat. The heat was so inte evaporated the water around us instantly. The air turned dry and suffog, and the oeady rain had dwio a sparse drizzle.

  I looked up. The remaining clouds in the sky were scattered, and my trol over them had slipped away. My special eyes were faltering, the pain and exhaustion taking their toll.

  "Shit!" I muttered through gritted teeth, feeling the weight of fatigue ay pressing down on me. My resources were running thin.

  The fire mage stood again, his grin refleg his growing fidence. "Looks like you're at your limit," he taunted, his voice thick with mockery.

  I charged toward the fire mage, grabbing a sword from a fallen soldier nearby. Explosioed around me as he tinued his assault, but I dodged them, barely managing to stay protected by hastily jured wind barriers. I climbed onto the rooftops, leapiween buildings to avoid the blisterihat ed the streets below.

  The fire mage retreated, sending out waves of blue fmes. He wasn’t stupid. He knew my mana was nearly depleted and that if this dragged on, he’d have the upper hand.

  I surged forward, lightning propellih maximum speed. He raised his hand, summoning an enormous bst of blue fire that blocked my path. I focused oing a tornado to pull the fmes away, but the iy of his fire was overwhelming. The wind couldn’t tain it.

  Quickly, I released a burst of energy into the ground, causing a k of stoo rise in front of me. The fire followed the rock like a ramp, leaving a small gap underh. I rolled across the ground, slidih the fiery barrier. The heat scorched the skin on my hands and knees, but I pressed on.

  As I closed the distance, he began juring another fireball. I didn’t give him the ce. I lunged with my sword, sshing toward him. He raised his forearm to block, but the bde tore through his flesh, leaving a deep gash that spilled blood.

  "Dammit, kid!" he yelled, swinging his free hand to unleash a bst of fmes. I dodged with precision and, in one swift motion, sliced off one of his fingers. His scream echoed as he stumbled back, trying to ignite himself in a fiery explosion to push me away.

  I jured a wind barrier, shielding myself from the bst and using the force to hurl him against a wall.

  "AHHH!" he screamed as I drove the sword into his stomach, twisting it viciously. The sound of tearing flesh was muffled by his cries of agony.

  Without hesitation, I grabbed his throat, my hand crag with electricity. He writhed as the energy scorched his skin, the smell of burning flesh filling the air. His neck darkened, charred bck, as his body vulsed.

  "Enough!" he shouted desperately, juring o fireball in his hand. I couldn’t rea time. The explosion hurled me backward despite the wind shield I tried to summon. I tumbled across the ground, my vision spinning as the impact rattled my entire body.

  I staggered to my feet, panting heavily. My right arm was burned, pain surging with every slight movement. I gred at the mage, who clutched his neck with trembling hands, his face twisted in agony. The burn on his throat was so severe he could barely produce a sound. He tried to curse at me, but only raspy, choking noises escaped.

  I darted forward and delivered a sharp kick to his stomach, sending him sprawling backward. He hit the ground, but even in his battered state, he attempted to retaliate with a burst of fire. His movements were instinctual, frantic, as he fumbled with his ste bracelet. He was trying to retrieve something, likely a healing potion. Before he could fully act, he hurled another fireball at me, f me to retreat momentarily.

  The mage struggled to his feet, stumbling toward the potion that had fallen from his bracelet. Electricity surged through my arms, and I fired. The bolt struck him square in the chest, smming him into a nearby wall with bone-shattering force.

  "Not so fun being the prey now, is it?" I sneered, walking toward him. He tried to push himself up but colpsed immediately, reduced to crawling toward the fallen potion. Desperation radiated from him as he stretched out his hand, reag for salvation.

  I stepped on his hand with all my weight, crushing his fingers beh my boot. His eyes met mine, wide with terror and hopelessness. He wheezed, struggling to breathe, his throat too buro fun properly.

  "Let me help you with that," I said coldly. "How about we open that throat a little wider?"

  I flipped him onto his back with my foot and pressed my boot against his chest, pinning him to the ground. Nearby, I spotted a jagged stone and picked it up.

  "Open your mouth!" I anded, f the roto his jaw. He tried to resist, but with a swift motion, I shattered his remaining hand. The stone wedged into his mouth as he struggled, his eyes bulging with panic.

  "Let me help you," I murmured, raising my hand, now surrounded by swirling wind energy. With a precise strike, I drove the stone deep into his throat. His scream of pain was immediately muffled, turning into a grotesque sound of choking.

  I removed my foot from his chest, watg as he writhed on the ground in agony. He tried to get up, stumbling over his ow as he gasped desperately for air. Before he could crawl far, I fired a small bolt of lightning into his back, smming him down again. He vulsed, his struggles apanied by the soft patter of rain around us.

  "My cousin almost died choking on her own blood, you know?" I said, my voice low and dripping with disdain as I approached him. His panic-stri eyes locked onto mine as he thrashed helplessly on the ground, uo make any sound beyond grotesque gurgles. His skin began turning a sickly shade of purple from the ck of oxygen.

  "She suffered so much with that punctured lung," I tinued, my tone now cold and merciless. "Even after the healing mages stabilized her, she spent hours fighting to breathe, choking, drowning in her own blood. Every single breath was torture. They had to watch her stantly, making sure she didn't die while the magic worked slowly to repair the damage."

  I k beside him, staring at him with expressionless eyes. "I want you to kly how she felt," I whispered. "The terror of suffog, using every ounce of strength left to fight against something you 't overe. Feeling powerless. Burned by a mage while struggling to stay scious. That’s what she endured in that battle."

  He thrashed violently, his body trembling as he cwed desperately at his throat, trying to dislodge the stone. I watched the terror in his eyes shift into pure despair. And it didn’t stop me.

  I raised my hand, summoning a small fme with immense focus. My body trembled from the effort, but I forced myself to tinue, eling the power of my special eyes to shape the fire. "Now, there’s just ohi," I said, the fme flickeriween my fingers. "Burning your body while you choke."