Chapter 248 – The General vs 5 Mages

  Nathan Evenhart:

  In front of me stood five mages who exuded power. Judging by their staheir leader appeared to be a demi-human woman with a fident posture and sharp eyes. I quickly assessed their abilities, analyzing each of them, and decided to dismiss my golems. I couldn’t afford to waste my mana unnecessarily.

  My right eye started failing again, my vision blurring and f me to bliedly. I had pushed the limits of my special eyes far too mu ret days. Creating that colossal storm cloud had ed two entire days of cultivation, requiring an absurd level of focus. But it had been necessary. The Storm Dome o be powerful enough to envelop the entire fortress, trapping the enemy army ih me. It was the only way to ehat the battle outside followed my family’s pn.

  Elsewhere otlefield, my mother was using her magic to i soldiers. Slowly but surely, a signifit portion of the enemy army would be turned into allies. It was a calcuted risk, but ohat could turide in our favor.

  Suddenly, my face felt warm. When I touched my right eye, I realized blood was dripping down. It wasn’t just exhaustion; overusing the elements through my special eyes was taking a serious toll. Deep down, I knew I was nearing the point of urn.

  Adrihna had already warned me about this; I just didn’t think it would happen to me so quickly. The reason she wore a monocle was because years of stant use of her own powers had permaly damaged her vision. Now, I was fag the same risk. Every spell I cast with the help of these eyes brought me closer to potentially losing my sight forever.

  I don’t think I sustain this Storm Dome much longer. At least it has served its purpose, seg a signifit advantage in the war outside.

  I took a deep breath, fully aware that everything from this point forward would depend on how I hahe mages standing before me.

  The demi-human woman with brown dog-like ears stepped forward, keeping her sharp gaze locked on me.

  “Pleasure to meet you. My name is Ilna,” she said with a mog tone. “I’m a user of earth and water elements. That might not seem like much to you, but for my kind, mastering these elements allows us to awaken the power of mud.”

  As she spoke, her body began to ooze mud, and she jured a ball of it in one hand.

  Ane stepped up right after her.

  “I’m Dudan,” said the man beside her. “We don’t know what’s happening outside, but the war has likely already begun. We’ve received authorization from Nikous Wolves to kill you. It doesn’t matter whether you’re alive or not; we’ll just tell your family you were captured, and that’ll be the end of them wheiations fail.” A sphere of ice materialized in his hand, marking him as an ice mage.

  An ice mage… and that demi-human is a mud mage. This isn’t going to be easy.

  “Name’s Richard,” said the one, summoning a bination of wind and fire in his hands.

  Beside him was a mage whose arms were encased in a yer of earth. One arm formed a spiked ball, while the other morphed inte drill-like tip that started spinning rapidly.

  “o meet you. I’m Bernard,” he said with a smug grin.

  A drill arm... This is going to be really tough.

  The st to introduce herself was a woman who gave me a sly smile.

  "My name is Michelle. Such a pity... such a handsome face for someone about to die. Don’t worry, I’ll fy your corpse carefully,” she said, her body pletely engulfed in water, transf into an aquatic creature.

  "Is this supposed to be some kind of show? I couldn’t care less about who you are."

  “It’s ary for us to introduce ourselves. We like the people we’re about to kill to know our names,” Ilna said, her voice cold and threatening.

  “So, how’s it going to be, kid?” asked the woman in her water-creature form, her tone dripping with provocation. “Quick death or slow?”

  I drew the Cursed Bde from my ste bracelet, feeling the familiar weight of the sword in my hand. In front of me, the demi-human woman wielded a massive axe, the fire-and-wind mage held a sword, and the ice mage gripped an iron club with a spiked metal tip.

  “After we kill you and bring down this storm dome, we’ll e for your family,” the demi-human woman threatened.

  “Good luck,” I replied sincerely, feeling the echo of the storm around me. “I assure you, they won’t fall easily.”

  The five mages began to spread out, positioning themselves to surround me.

  “Water Bomb!” The woman ier armor rushed forward with incredible speed, f me to raise a wind barrier at the st sed. However, she detonated herself before impact. The force of the explosion unched me into the air, and from below, I saw the demi-human firing mud bullets in my dire.

  “Damn it!” I muttered, pointing my arm upward and firing a lightning bolt that tore through the ceiling. I shot through the opening, emerging on top of the structure. Soldiers attempting to break open the bck storm dome saw me and fled in panic, seeking refuge in nearby buildings.

  BOOM! The grouh me exploded, and I barely dodged in time. The mage with the spinning drill arm emerged, shattering the earth as he leapt.

  “Where do you think yoing, pretty boy?” the earth mage taunted, ughing mogly. Rain poured heavily around us, dreng everything as we stood atop the building, the Nikous Wolves’ castle looming in the background.

  “I don’t see a problem with causing a bit of destru here,” I murmured to myself.

  Sparks began to dance along my arm and sword as I charged toward the earth mage. The demi-human woman burst out of the hole with incredible speed, her axe raised for a strike. I reinforced my body with wind, and our ons collided.

  BAM! The impact shattered the gss of nearby buildings. The woman smirked.

  “How cute. You don’t evehat strong,” she taunted, spinning to deliver a kick. I dodged just in time, blog with my sword, but the impact sent me sliding back. I felt a sudden chill. A beam of ice zipped past me, freezing the ground as the ice mage attempted to er me.

  The battle was just beginning, and chaos swirled around us.

  “Fire Ray!” I heard a shout from behind me. Moving quickly, I dodged the attack, rushing toward the fire mage. I jured a wind barrier to block the direct impact while pressing forward.

  “Thunder Dash!” I whispered, feeling my body accelerate in a powerful leap. I closed the distah the fire mage, striking with my sword. He raised his on to block, sidestepping and firing fming projectiles, which I deflected with my bde. In a swift move, I leapt back to gain distance.

  I expelled a high-pressure jet of water from my mouth, hitting the fire mage and sending him flying.

  Suddenly, a powerful kick struck my back, hurlihrough the air. I couldn’t fully recover in time but mao parry the demi-human woman’s axe. The impached me even higher, and before I could regain my bahe water mage, cloaked in her liquid armor, leapt at me with blinding speed, nding a punch mid-air.

  I was hurled into the castle, crashing through a wall and nding in a room. The impact left me stunned for a moment, but I quickly gathered my thoughts, analyzing everything I had observed about my oppos.

  os… if I summon him, he could take care of my enemies, but he’d likely kill me too. I still ’t trol him.

  This thought crossed my mind as I wiped the blood from the er of my mouth and got to my feet.

  I leapt out of the room, dodging another volley of fire bsts heading my way. But a jet of mud struck my wind barrier, weakening it. Before I could reinforce the defehe earth mage, with his spinning drill arm, lu me.

  “Hahaha! Almost there!” he shouted, ughing as his drill spun wildly. The pressure was intense, and my barrier began to falter.

  I o think fast, or this will end badly.

  I still had orump card, but summoning the Soul Golem now could be a massive gamble.

  At the st sed, I dropped my barrier, catg the mage off guard. Sparks ran ay body, and in a quient, I struck his abdomen with all my strength. He had no time to react, and before he could recover, I grabbed him and hurled him against a wall.

  Lightning surged around me, and I unleashed a thunderbolt at him. He tried to block with his arms, but his defense crumbled, and the impact sent him crashing violently into the structure, shattering it with a deafening roar.

  Boom!

  The water mage, encased in her shimmering liquid armor, desded upoh terrifying speed. I rolled to the side just in time to avoid her lethal strike.

  She waved her hand in the air, summoning atack. A high-speed water sphere uoward me, exploding nearby and throwing me backward with the force.

  Before I could regain my footing, atack was ing.

  “Mud on!” the demi-human shouted, firing a mud projectile directly at me. I hastily jured a wind barrier, but the force of the impact pushed me even farther back, suspending me in the air as the pressure mounted.

  f I use my stro spell, I might die or end up so weak that anyone could finish me off… and I don’t know how the war outside is going.

  My options were shrinking, and time wasn’t on my side. I gnced up at the storm dome above, feeling the strain of keeping it active.

  I’ve held it through aire night… I ’t keep feeding this any longer.

  I sighed, resigning myself to the iable. Suddenly, a fist collided with my face, and I was thrown by the impact. I crashed onto the roof of a building, scrambling to my feet as quickly as I could. The mages appeared one by one, each taking position on the rooftops, f a circle around me.

  A lightning bolt illumihe sky, its intense brilliaearing through the darkness as torrential rain poured dowlessly.

  The dome was beginning to crack. Each fracture in my trol over the elements increased the strain. My e to the other elements was votile, dangerous, leavih only thunder and wind as reliable allies.

  I gripped my resolve tightly. Summoning a sword of wind reinforced with thunder, I held it in my hand, its electric glow pulsating around the bde. Thunder coursed through my body, not as a rigid armor but as a living, dynamic aura.

  This was the Thunder Mantle, a skill only a Transmitter could achieve. I felt the tingliion ay skin as lightning coiled around me, like serpents hungry for destru.

  “What an intriguing power,” remarked the fire mage, juring a bzing sphere in his hands. The es readied themselves, their eyes locked onto me, analyzing my every move.

  Without warning, as if a single spark had ighe chaos, we charged at each other.

  The five mages advaogether, coordinated and deadly. The water mage, cloaked in her gleaming liquid armor, led the charge, her powerful assault aimed directly at me. But before she could reach me, the pierg sound of something slig through the air echoed. A brilliant blue light streaked across the field, swift and unavoidable.

  BOOM!

  The explosion was deafening. The Cursed Bde, which I had strategically positioned earlier, returned like a treacherous lightning bolt, ing the battlefield in thunderous chaos. The bst threw everyone back, everyone except me. I stood firm, my gaze locked oorm of destru, as the sword spun bato my hand, its bde still crag with electricity.

  "Five against one... still feels unfair. For you, of course," I said with a cold smile, pointing the bde toward them.

  Without hesitation, I hurled the Cursed Bde like a b, its spinning motion geing a storm of lightning around it. The sword tore through the air, thunder exploding with every rotation, as the mages scrambled to react.

  The csh began. Every movement was aion of power, every strike a delicate daween chaos and precision. Thunder roared in my veins as the battle unfolded like a relentless storm, unstoppable aating.