The explosion destroyed the entire forest. leaving nothing behind. As a result, only dust and the dense fog that engulfed the area remained.
Because of the shockwave, Debris from the buildings near the forest started to fall one before another. And shortly, the entire building subsided. Luckily, the people in that area evacuated before it took place.
The good outcome was that no one was injured during the process.
Boom-...
Boom-...
The loud sound of the explosion can be heard from other areas as well. People can be seen destroying the falling debris while in the process of evacuating citizens. From the looks of it, they seemed to not just ordinary people. The way they used their awakened powers to save lives is just like what hunters would do. They also wear the same outfit that indicates they're part of a certain organization. You could say they are part of the government judging from the reactions of the people after getting saved by them.
"Is there still anyone there?"
"No. But there is one over there."
"Is that so, then go send a small team there"
"I already did"
"That's good"
The way they converse indicates that they're busy saving people and have no signs of stopping. These rescuers are also not just evacuating them, they're also treating their injuries using potions and healing magic.
"Damn... Just what is currently happening right now?"
"Judging from the direction of the occurring explosions, it seemed that everything started from that mansion"
"Isn't that the house of the famous actress, Aria?"
"When is the arrival of the investigation team?"
"Sir, it says that they would arrive in 20 minutes"
"Fuck why are they too slow"
20 minutes may sound so fast, but, the situations are not that simple to say it's fast. At this moment, it would most likely take at least 1 hour for the investigation team to arrive.
"Shit. At this rate, we might get exposed to this fight we initially didn't want to participate in"
They eventually started to complain about this. But, based on how critical the situation is, this is just a reasonable reaction from them. No one wants to get involved and die in a fight they didn't start.
And At this, very crucial moment, the leader of the rescuer team, prompted his co-workers to be cautious of their movements and their surroundings and urge them to fight for themselves in case they sense danger coming.
They particularly had no reason to disagree with that, in that regard, they nodded in agreement since this also involves their own lives.
BACK TO THE FIGHT...
"Cough... Cough..."
This person coughing while waving his hand to blow the smoke away and levitating on top of the smoke appeared to be Lacner who's constantly observing the area below him to see some change. However, it has been five minutes since he started doing this and since then no change has taken place around. Even a single step is inaudible.
"Perhaps, did that killed him?" That's the only conclusion Lacner had.
It has already been five minutes since then but no particular change happened That's why Lacner concluded this. However, he still couldn't confirm it whether he is dead or not without any evidence on hand.
"Should- should I descend there and investigate this matter?" Lacner said this reluctantly.
Despite the result of his attack, Lacner still couldn't stop doubting about it. It's as if, he is still alive, lurking around inside that dense smoke, waiting for him to go down.
"I guess I should wait from here" after thorough thinking, Lacner concluded to stay above.
It was a wise decision for Lacner. You never know what's waiting for you down there.
The reason is simple. Lacner almost used all his mana in that single attack. Therefore, if Andre turns out to be alive waiting to ambush him unknowingly, Lacner had no time or enough mana to cover himself from that. And the other reason is that they are both of the same ranks and have almost equal power, so it's not strange if Andre somehow defended himself from that.
A long silence filled the lonely dusty land. 10 minutes, 15 minutes, no, 20 minutes had passed and there is still no sign of Andre being alive.
this time, Lacner muttered. "Did he actually died?"
At this time, Lacner is eagerly waiting for Andre to come out to the point that his patience is getting drained by the mystery unfolding right in front of his eyes.
However, before he could even react...
Slash-...
"!..."
A huge slash made out of mana cuts through the dense smoke and goes further toward Lacner.
Boom-...
That surprised attack succeeded. It was inevitable the moment it came out.
The smoke gradually fades away and there Lacner can be seen inside a dense barrier.
"My doubts aren't wrong, he is still alive." Said Lacner in surprise.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh.
Another huge slash resurfaced, but this time there are ten of them.
Lacner on the other hand had no intentions of falling into the same trick twice as he evaded each of these slashes one by one.
Swoosh...
However... Just after dodging all those slashes, Andre unexpectedly appeared right in front of him.
"What the..." his sudden appearance made Lacner mutters these two words.
Slash-...
Bang...
Slash slash slash slash slash...
Bang bang bang bang bang boom boom...
Lacner tried to block each of his attacks from all sides. However, Andre's impulsive attacks still got through his defense causing his body to bleed from the inflicted wounds.
'This is the worst... My mana is almost depleted from that technique and it will take an hour just to restore a fraction of it. Nonetheless, how did he survive that attack?'
Lacner struggled on defending himself while observing him and somehow got a glimpse of unusual things currently happening. And despite the consecutive attacks from Andre, Lacner urged himself to fight him.
'This attack pattern... Something must've happened to him.' Said Lacner after noticing it again.
At first, Lacner didn't give much thought to it. He thought that it might be just a new tactic, but these repeated attacks is certainly odd even for Lacner.
this strange demeanor and unusual attack pattern of his caught Lacner attention. It wouldn't be strange if something had happened to him during those 20 minutes of interval.
To get more information regarding this matter, Lacner tried to investigate by fighting with him and giving some deeper thoughts about everything he had seen during that fight.
It didn't take him too long to notice something, and this something is the reason for him to conclude everything he had seen so far.
Slash... Slash... Bang... Boom...
'His eyes... Perhaps, is he unconscious while fighting me? But how? No... Moreover what the hell is this strength... It's increasing drastically in just a short amount of time. Don't tell me'
Lacner comes into fear while predicting the future that is going to happen next while trying to stand up after getting knocked to the ground.
And yes... the future he feared came true.
"Haaaaaaa......!!!!!!!"
A huge amount of mana emerged from Andre's body that destroyed the surroundings and blow the smoke away along with his terrifying scream.
Shortly, this mana leaking out of his body formed a huge red barrier that caused Lacner's body to stiffen for a moment.
"Shit... Just as I thought. this guy is awakening to reach SsS-rank. At this rate, we will all die including my aunt and uncle albeit I don't know where they are."
"I don't know how he did it but he probably absorbed my technique to get stronger. No wonder why he didn't even try to avoid it earlier." He added.
For the sake of others' lives, Lacner forced himself to fight even at the cost of his life.
"Lightning magic, punishment of heaven"
Lacner poured a decent amount of mana into his spear before shooting a beam of Lightning.
Boom-...
The impact of his ability forced even himself to withdraw dozens of meters away from his previous location. However, after a few seconds of waiting, the smoke gradually disappeared, and the results show zero change. The barrier completely blocked his attack.
"You're kidding, right? No, let me try again"
"Lightning magic, thunder thrust."
-the same result.
"Lightning magic....."
Lacner did his best by trying to destroy the barrier by any means. He already used all the techniques available to him, but, this same result is constantly making him feel anxious.
With his mana completely drained from using all those techniques, Lacner eventually started to lose his confidence to win this battle.
"I'm going to kill Lacner and become the person who surpassed his talent."
This unexpected hoarse voice resounded throughout the area.
Lacner didn't respond to that. This development is showing that Andre's consciousness will fully recover again through this process.
"Hah... In the end, I'm going to die in this state..." Lacner let out a sigh of dissatisfaction.
That words were indicating that he gave up.
But...
Swoosh...
Cut...
Just after giving up, a masked man appeared in front of him.
"Yoooo... Are you okay?"
"You... You are"
Lacner glanced at him with his face showing his surprised reaction to his sudden appearance.
"No, more importantly, that guy over there is awakening to reach SsS-rank. You have to stop him."
Lacner persuaded him to stop Andre from reaching SsS-rank, however, the masked man didn't respond and just there standing up looking down at him.
"You know the consequence of doing this right?." Lacner asked him.
"I know."
"Then why-"
Their conversation was abruptly cut off by the very same hoarse voice earlier.
"I'm going to kill Lacner... Along with you."
As a response, the masked man turns his head around and said...
"Shut up. I mean... You are way too weak to say that to me"
Splurt-...
Tap-... Tap...
The sound of his head that fell to the ground reverberated. The barrier covering and protecting him from any possible attack has been cut in half and started to melt in the air.
"What the hell just happened?" These are the only possible words to come out of Lacner's mouth.