Lance Lightning 4

“She’s over there, right?” I asked with a smirk, pointing in her direction.

The augmenter’s face paled but he remained silent. He pulled himself up to his feet with the help of a nearby tree despite his fatigue, desperation evident on his rugged face. Keeping his deep set eyes locked on mine, he clapped his hands just once. As soon as he did, multiple images of the augmenter began forming around me, resolving my suspicion—there was illusion or deceptive magic involved.

Soon, there was at least a dozen figures of the augmenter all in different—very life-like—poses, all ready to attack.

I looked at the illusions manifested around me, noticing that both Dicathen and Alacryan soldiers were unaware of what was happening, and let out a stifled laugh.

“This is funny?” the augmenter growled, his voice coming from all of the clones as well.

“I’m sorry,” I sighed, still smiling. Looking up, I surveyed the dozen or so augmenters, all with glowing mana claws that couldn’t be distinguished from one another. “Thanks to this illusion, I can let loose a little.”

Poking my conscious deep into my mana core, I activated Realmheart. A burst of mana exploded out of me as my vision faded into an achromatic state. I could feel the comfortable warmth as the glowing runes flowed down my arms and my back while my long hair began shining with a twinge of silvery hue rather than turning completely white.

The clones that had once seemed identical in my normal state were now no more than clusters of mana shaped into the form of a man. All but one appeared to be a mass of white mana particles. What surprised me was that the illusion wasn’t invoked by the hidden conjurer but the ‘shield.’

Locking my gaze on the augmenter, it was obvious from his expression that he knew there was something dreadfully oppressing about me. Beads of sweat rolled down his face as he regarded me with fearful perplexity. Ignoring his wariness, the augmenter—along with all of his clones—dashed toward me.

At the same time, the mage conjured another blast of fire—larger, this time—in sync with the augmenter’s assault. Raising my output of mana, I ignored the illusions of the augmenter and aimed for the real augmenter’s mana claws head on, shattering his spell. Grabbing a tight hold of his exposed hand, I used his momentum to redirect him toward the fire blast.

I caught a glimpse of my opponent’s eyes widening in horror before being struck by the full brunt of his ally’s spell.

Several layers of barriers attempted to protect the augmenter but they all shattered from the force of the blast. Still, the augmenter’s life was preserved thanks to that.

The illusory clones flickered before disappearing as I turned my attention toward the conjurer hiding in the tree.

Wordlessly, I raised my left arm and coalesced mana into the tips of my fingers.

“Shiel—Cayfer! Protect Maylin!” the augmenter roared, still struggling to get up from the ground.

The conjurer named Cayfer that the augmenter had referred to as ‘shield’ nodded furiously as I finished preparing my spell. Jagged vines of electricity coiled down my arm like a serpent, gathering at the tips of my index and middle finger.

Using my right arm to help stabilize my aim, I concentrated on the hidden conjurer that was now clearly visible thanks to Realmheart.

“Release,” I muttered.

The thin bullet of lightning shot out from the tips of my two fingers, piercing directly through the trees that stood in between me and the hidden mage.

The layers of translucent barriers that formed in the bullet’s path were instantly shattered until my spell hit the cluster of rocks I had been aiming at.

There was no dramatic scream or howl of pain in the distance, only the soft thud of the mage’s limp body falling off the boulder.

“No! Maylin!” the barrier caster cried out as he ran toward his fallen comrade, abandoning his post.

As the mage fell and Cayfer’s concentration broke, the illusion surrounding us disappeared. As if a window had been open, the world became clearer around me and the near-muted volume of the battle going on resumed in full blast. It wasn’t long before I got swept up in the chaos of battle.