"Lightning Storm!"
The twins' 5-Star spell consolidated successfully. The sky formed compact, dark, lumpy clouds where thunders flashed and roared between them, producing calamitous sounds.
A heavy wind thrashed against the trees as their branches bent towards one direction. The sound of the wind and rustling leaves were persistent.
In the midst of this man-made calamity, a burst of vengeful laughter could be heard.
Ryu looked at the origin and found two pairs of eyes glaring at him with contempt. Their mouths spoke at the same time. "You may be a genius mage, but even you can't stop this while shielding someone."
The twins raised their staves together, using them as the catalyst to control the spell. Rotated three times before they pointed it at Ryu.
The clouds started to accumulate a much denser light.
"Ryu?" Yume said in a gloomy voice.
"Yume? What are you doing outside? It's dangerous!"
Her pale face somewhat recovered. The color of her skin returned to normal. Her panting also calmed down. Though she still leaned on the wall to support and reserve her strength.
"I just wanted to watch. That's all. Am I bothering you?"
'How can you be a bother?' Ryu said inwardly.
Instead of cowering at the very end of the cave while worrying that something terrible might happen, Ryu found Yume showing unshakable heartwarming trust. Who would get mad at someone that gave complete faith in him?
"No," Ryu replied.
"Then."
"Yes, you can sit there and watch."
Yume gently smiled and slowly sat on the dirty ground. A typical noble would nitpick about this situation. But she just calmly stayed there and watched. Her eyes were filled with excitement.
'Alright, let's do this. As yparchei aspida!'
Bzzzzzzzt! Boom!
Coming from the sky, one lightning struck the magic shield Ryu made, breaking it instantly. He successfully defended but used one-tenth of his mana in the process. Measuring his remaining magic power, he still has enough to fend for three to four attacks.
"We can see that you are becoming weak, little bug!"
"That's just one from a myriad of lightning to come. There will be plenty more where it came from!"
What the twins were saying was true. Considering that Ryu's mana will be depleted after the fifth lightning strike, put him in a bit of a mess.
Pondering about it, Ryu thought a spell at this level should have limitations. "A wide magic like that wouldn't be easy to control."
The corner of the older brother's mouth curved upward as he quickly raised his staff and pointed at Ryu. "Really? Then how about this!"
Bzzzzzzt! Boom!
Another lightning struck. But this time, Ryu slid three meters backward after being hit. The swords he used as an additional shield dispensed electric currents that conducted through the blades, creating a buzzing sound that generated a visible plasma that lingered for a few seconds.
Bzzz... Bzzz... Bzzzt...
"That's two strikes, and you can't defend anymore. Hahaha!"
The twins celebrated. Seeing how Ryu was struggling. Waiving the mage staff around and dancing like kids. Even the leader of the assassins covered his mouth in an attempt not to laugh.
Ryu yawned. Wiping the tears that came out of his eyes. Then he joined laughing with them, making them halt in surprise. "Ha ha ha!"
"Older brother, the bug still had the boldness to mock us!"
"The bug went crazy, younger brother."
"Twin elders, let me help." The leader of the assassins went into his battle position, holding one unique dagger. It was like a rusty old military knife. So much corrosion that it looked poisonous. The edge of this knife was still deadly sharp. Ryu felt an evil essence lingering around it.
"This dagger's name was Damascus. You're not the only one with a good weapon, kid."
The twins also moved to prepare for another lightning bolt. So Ryu quickly chanted earth magic.
"Afiste to edafos na kinithei!"
The leader of the assassins dashed towards Ryu. It was so fast that it looked like teleportation.
Clang!
The Damascus clashed against the ice sword. The dagger tried to corrode the blade but was stopped by the power of ice.
"I'm not done yet."
While in the air, the Assassin Leader turned his body around. When his foot landed on the ground, he disappeared. Ryu's decades of hunting experience told him that the enemy went to the rear, and he realized that the real target was not him.
"Oh no, Yume!"
Ryu jumped and threw the fire sword outside the cave entrance, commanding it to create a pillar of fire to block the enemy from going forward.
In response, the Assassin Leader jumped and flipped backward to evade being burned.
Bzzzzt! Boom!
A lightning bolt struck Ryu without warning, making him plummet and roll a few times into the ground.
"Ack! Blegh!"
Ryu was lying on the ground when he felt some liquid trickle down the corners of his mouth. He touched it with his hand and saw a red stain. It was blood. Luckily, Yume wouldn't notice since the pillar of fire was blocking her vision.
The twins damaged Ryu with a lightning bolt while he was preoccupied with the sudden threat that went over to Yume. Fortunately, his remaining mana prevented him from having a more severe injury. However, it still took a tremendous toll on his body.
'I need to deal with that lightning storm.'
'Think Ryu... Think...'
'What did the people in my previous life do to prevent lightning...? Ah!'
Ryu thought about the problem, and an idea came into his mind.
"Younger brother, let's prepare another lightning and finish him off!"
"Preparing another lightning, older brother!"
Clang!
A sudden backstab by the Assassin Leader. This time, Ryu was able to block it, learning from his lesson. Using the ice sword, he overpowered him, forcing him to back away.
At the same time, the twins continued to formulate another attack.
"No!"
With the current fire pillar and the lightning that struck Ryu, he only had enough mana to block it twice.
'I need to execute my strategy.'
"Afiste to edafos na kinithei!"
The ground trembled! Ryu used half of his remaining mana to form a tower from soil and rock. It was thick enough to support itself and high enough to break a neck just by looking at the top.
"Afiste to spathi na vgei!"
The Gravity Rune Sword appeared. Ryu hurriedly grabbed and threw it at the tower's apex, hoping it would reach its peak before the lightning arrived.
Bzzzzzzzzzzt!
Another lightning struck. But this time, there was no explosion.
'It seems I was right.'
Ryu learned this the first time the twins' lightning bolt directly hit the swords on his waist.
Magic equipment attracts magic.
With the help of the Gravity Rune Sword, susceptible to magic, and applying science he learned from his previous life, Ryu created a rock tower.
'A perfect lightning rod.'
Bzzzzzt!
One bolt.
Bzzzzzzzzzt!
Two bolts.
Bzzzzt!
Three bolts, and so on. But every time the lightning hit, the sword was enough to absorb everything.
'It might be different and dangerous if I held the sword instead.'
The bolts controlled by the twins were also forced to hit the sword, which made their mouths gasp in revelation.
"How is this possible, older brother?"
"This bug is dangerous! We need to kill him off quickly!"
The twins landed on the ground. Removing their control of the lightning storm, making the bolts hit random places.
Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Boom! Bzzzt! Boom!
They began to focus more on Ryu and started casting lesser magic.
"As yparchei anemos kai fotia!"
3-Star wind magic and 3-Star fire magic. A fire tornado. It came out directly from the tip of their mage staff and fired horizontally toward Ryu.
The Assassin Leader used this chance to attack the distracted Ryu from the side.
Swiiish!
Ryu brandished the ice sword carving a line on the ground to create a wall of ice, blocking the fire tornado. At the same time, using the same sword slash to deal with the Assassin Leader.
Clang!
Successful parrying, Ryu smiled. When the ice wall started to crack, Ryu and the Assassin Leader evaded and jumped in different directions.
Boom!
"Impossible!"
"If this continues, our mana will run through. What're we going to do, older brother?"
"We need to get rid of that sword!"
When the Assassin Leader heard about the sword in the tower, he grinned at Ryu and dashed off. "Twin elders, let me get rid of that giant sword!"
The twins and Ryu exchanged magic spells while the Assassin Leader swiftly climbed the tower by running around it. Using his dagger from time to time to gain balance by stabbing it in and using it to pull himself skillfully. With this, he almost reached the tower's peak.
"Hahaha! This is too easy!" The Assassin Leader said.
"Nicely done! Just grab the sword and throw it on the ground!"
"Yes, throw it! So we can control the lightning storm again!"
The Assassin Leader joyfully rushed to the top like a kid, beaming. The twins' smiles also became too broad, like those who had already won.
"Almost... I can almost reach it!"
"Wait, this is weird."
"What do you mean, older brother?"
"The bug is just staying with us, doing nothing."
The older brother seemed wise enough to know that Ryu did plan something.
'Sadly, noticing it was already too late.'
"Wait! Gustaf, come back!"
"Gustaf, it's a trap!"
Gustaf, the leader of the assassins, didn't hear what the twins were saying because of the loud noise produced by the gushing wind. At this moment, he reached the top where the Gravity Rune Sword was located.
"I got it! Hahaha! Now face your doom—Eh?"
Once there, he tried to pull the sword but failed. The twins who were watching were doubtful. But Ryu believed Gustaf, the one holding the sword, was the most confused.
"What are you doing?! Hurry and pull the sword out!"
While holding the sword, Gustaf placed both feet on the tower and attempted to pull it again with greater strength. He even shouted. "Argh!"
Bzzzzzzzzt! Boom!
'As expected.' Ryu thought.
No one could wield the Gravity Rune Sword other than its chosen master. Ryu remembered that Kaori once lifted the sword with unbelievable strength. Yet, she still failed to maintain it for long, so Ryu was sure that this guy, Gustaf, wouldn't succeed either.
Ryu was planning on increasing the gravity when the Assassin Leader arrived at the top. He could control the gravity as long as the rune sword was near and connected to the ground. But he didn't know if that was enough to pull him down and kill him. With great luck, a lightning bolt struck, giving Gustaf a fatal blow that gave Ryu a chance to finish him.
'100 times gravity!'
Bam!
Gustaf, who was struck by lightning, crashed to the ground. Dead or alive, no one was willing to know.
"Your Majesty!"
Finally, the Shadow Intelligence Guild Assassins with Felix arrived. Surrounding the twins, who were currently struggling with the immense gravity.
Ryu looked at them and smiled.
"Now, the tables have turned."