Lance dura 3

‘Arthur!’ Sylvie cried as her large body cast a shadow over my head.

Perfect timing, I replied, my voice sounding strained even in my head. Gathering up as much mana as my body would allow without succumbing to the harsh effects of backlash, I conjured a torrent of wind underneath the witch’s feet.

“Catch!” I roared as I sent my opponent spiraling up in the air toward my bond.

Sylvie immediately dived down and grasped the witch using her long claws. With the weakened state of the witch, her aura had little effect on my bond. Her armored scales kept her protected long enough for her to soar up into the sky.

The two of them got lost in the clouds as Sylvie continued carrying the Vritra up.

‘She’s lost consciousness,’ Sylvie stated, the mental transmission sounding distant and muffled.

Drop her here, I transmitted, still on the ground.

‘I’ll do a little more than drop,’ she let out a growl.

After meditating just a bit longer for one last spell, I struggled up to my feet, my trembling legs barely keeping me standing.

With my good arm raised, I converged mana to form the head of a spear. The runes on my arms flickered and dimmed but still remained, helping me utilize as much of the mana in the atmosphere as possible. I could feel the temperature drop as the spear of ice expanded to the size of a tree.

As I steadily condensed the ice, the crude pike that I’d conjured took shape into a mighty lance large enough to be wielded by a titan. The lance continually changed, further refining itself as I condensed and molded it with the surrounding mana.

Feeling my legs giving out, I quickly raised the ground around me to support my legs, planting me to the ground in an earthen splint.

Compressed and sharpened so the spell that was once the size of a tree was now just a few feet longer me, the spear of ice, still suspended in the air, glimmered like the sky during the Aurora Constellate that occurred every decade.

The taste of metal filled my mouth as blood trailed down my chin, my body warning me of the wretched state I was in.

Moments later, I caught sight of the witch. The once mighty Vritra that seemed almost untouchable was hurtling down like a meteor fragment. Sylvie must’ve thrown her down by the speed she was plummeting toward me; it took only the span of a few breaths for her to be close enough to calculate where she’d land.

The Vritra’s mangled body plummeted right into the tip of my spear, and instantly, my body jerked from the force.

I could feel the brace I had conjured from the ground give in as the spear buried itself into the witch’s body.

With what remaining strength I had left in my legs, I managed to leap out of the way before I was caught up in the full brunt of the Vritra’s impact with my spear.

The blast of rocks and splintered trees bombarded my back as a thunderous explosion resounded, echoing throughout the entire forest and shaking every tree in the vicinity.

I fell in and out of consciousness as I tumbled on the ground, my body barreling through old logs and branches and whatever else was on the forest ground before the trunk of a large tree finally stopped me.

....

Less than fifty feet away was a crater the size of a home with a thin layer of dust still apparent. In the center of the large depression was the spear of ice buried halfway into the ground as the witch’s lifeless body laid dangling in the air, the spear impaled straight through her chest.

Steam still hissed from the witch’s body as her corrosive skin tried to eat away at the ice, but to no avail.

She was dead.