From the shadows beneath Edward’s feet, a massive column of water erupted upward. It was not a spell that slowly ford. It exploded into existence, as if an ocean had been hiding under the ruined courtyard all along. Thousands of tons of deep, cold water surged skyward in a roaring pillar, punching straight through the blood-red clouds above.
The heat vanished and what had monts ago been air hot enough to lt stone was suddenly ripped away, replaced by freezing cold. Steam burst everywhere as fire and water collided, thick white fog rolling across the ruins and swallowing the broken estate whole.
Then the ocean ca down.
The falling wave hit the Vistro estate like a mountain collapsing. Fires were crushed out in an instant. Molten stone cracked loudly as it cooled too fast, splitting apart with sharp pops and hissing steam. In seconds, the entire battlefield was flooded, the shattered courtyard turning into a violent, churning sea.
At the center of it all, the Leviathan moved.
Its massive body coiled through the water with terrifying motion. Its scales shimred with a deep blue shine, smooth and sharp at the sa ti. Fins cut through the flood like blades.
Then, a deep, vibrating growl rolled through the flooded estate, felt more in the bones than heard. The creature opened its enormous jaws, and the water responded imdiately. The sea began to move, spiraling toward the Leviathan in a massive whirlpool. The water that flooded the estate was dragged into its mouth, compressed again and again by the monster’s mana core.
Above the rising steam, the Fla Phoenix let out a screech of primal territorial rage. The sudden presence of its elental opposite—water—was an affront to its existence. It gathered its strength and shot downward, a spear of fire intended to evaporate the leviathan before it could finish charging.
But in that mont of desperation by the fla phoenix, it had montarily, forvetton about the fading summon that hovered way opposite beside it.
The Lightning Wyrm Dragon, though shattered and flickering on the edge of dissipation, had not yet vanished. The beast knew its purpose, and seeing the fla phoenix wide open for an attack, as it flew head-on towards the leviathan, was a perfect opportunity.
As the Phoenix dove, the Wyrm lunged towards it. Its entire form compressed into a single jagged shape of pure lightning, sharp and violent, humming with lethal energy.
The Lightning Wyrm beca a spear of blue lightning and shot through the fog. The Phoenix, sensing the lethal energy, instinctively tucked its body and raised its massive wing as a shield. The lightning spear collided with the fla feathers in a blinding flash of blue light. The force was effective—while it didn’t destroy the Archmage’s spirit summon, it disrupted the Phoenix’s montum, the electrical shock causing its flas to sputter and sending the bird spiraling backward through the air, montarily stunned and wide open.
High above, still hovering in the air, Duke Charles Luminaris felt a cold sweat break out across his brow.
"...Impossible," he thought, his mind racing as his eyes snapped between the multiple events unfolding before him.
""I have underestimated him again."
His hands tightened, mana trembling around him.
"To master the Elental Law of Lightning to its peak is already the work of a lifeti. But to simultaneously hold the comprehension required to summon a Leviathan?"
His thoughts turned heavy.
"Few in the history of the Seven Kingdoms have ever mastered more than one elental law to its fullest capacity. Most mages find a singular affinity—fire, wind, earth, any—and spend decades refining it until they beco masters of that law. It is the most efficient path. The logical path. But this boy... he is a master of both Water and Lightning? Maybe even more. To summon a spirit of this rank while already maintaining another..."
The Duke’s gaze locked onto Edward, standing calmly in the mist of all this.
"This is sothing that shouldn’t exist."
A sudden clarity cut through his shock like a blade.
"If he survives today," The Duke realized, "then the age of normality ends with my generation."
The duke was right to be shocked. To beco a master of an affinity, one had to cultivate it to the point where they could summon an elental spirit of that domain. Each affinity had many different elental spirits. In the water domain, for example, the Leviathan was considered one of, if not the strongest elental spirit. Other spirits, such as the Hydra, the Sea Serpent, and the Abyssal Kraken, were all powerful in their own right, but still considered inferior to it.
With that, the Fla Phoenix managed to right itself in the air, its wings flapping frantically to regain altitude and reignite core. But it was too late. The window provided by the Lightning Wyrm’s attack was all the Leviathan needed.
The water that had flooded the estate was gone, now entirely housed within the Leviathan’s throat. The beast’s neck bulged, glowing with a deep, blue light.
Then—
BOOM.
The Leviathan snapped its jaws shut, and a giant, Pressurized Water Beam erupted.
It was a rod of water compressed so tightly it had the density of solid diamond. It moved with a velocity that bypassed the Phoenix’s ability to react. The beam tore through the steam-filled sky, a blue line of absolute destruction that struck the Fla Phoenix square in its chest.
For a fraction of a second, there was silence.
Then everything broke.
Steam detonated outward as fire and water collided. The beam punched straight through the Phoenix’s core. Flas were crushed.
The Phoenix released one final, broken cry as its light faded. Its blazing form collapsed, shattered by the unbearable weight of the attack. The elental spirit fell apart into countless warm droplets, raining harmlessly down over the ruined estate.
Duke Charles gasped.
Pain tore through his Sea of Consciousness as his primary summon was violently withdrawn back. His aura flickered, unstable for the first ti since his arrival.
To recall the summon was impossible. The beast’s essence had been severely damaged within the duke’s sea of consciousness, and the he would need to cultivate it back to a state where it no longer carried the scars of that battle.
With a slow breath, the duke, still hovering high above the sky, locked an intense gaze onto Edward.
Then—
Whoosh!
Suddenly, an eerie sensation flooded the entire estate. Any maid or knight who had managed to survive the carnage until now was seized by complete fear. Even for a brief mont, Edward was forced back a single step.
Killing intent.
The duke’s killing intent spread across the estate, numbing the senses of anyone caught within it.
"Never thought I would be pushed to such an extent that I’d need to use this," the duke thought. "Still, it doesn’t matter. I’ll end this quickly."
With a massive surge of his fla mana, he conjured, "Domain Release."
Reviews
All reviews (0)