Lightning rained everywhere.
Whenever a lightning bolt struck the ground, an ear-splitting explosion occurred. The power of a spell around 7-star to 8-star, but Jin didn't know of its name.
It was the same with the second spell. The lightning gathered and spiraled around the tip of the staff and turned into a spear. The spear then flashed towards Jin.
Valeria Hister, Jin's master in magic. The lone descendant of the Hister Clan.
The level of her magic was beyond comprehension.
Her mastery of the art was immaculate. She enjoyed using modifications of her magic, utilizing different spells in her own style.
Flash!
The lightning spear shattered Jin's magic barrier. Before the sharp, shattering sound could reach his ears, blood dripped from his ear lobe.
The spear skimmed his ear. Even the strongest warrior with the fastest blade couldn't make such a fast strike.
Jin frantically cast another shield and gritted his teeth.
'She's really going to kill me.'
In his past life, he sparred her over five hundred times.
Jin had over five hundred losses, and not a single time did Valeria try to kill him.
"Dodging well, my apprentice."
Shiiieeek!
The spear that Jin dodged turned around. As it charged towards his back, Valeria shot another spear at a slight delay.
The timing made it so that dodging both was almost impossible.
After barely dodging the first, Jin instantly dropped to the floor. Simultaneously, Valeria conjured and shot a third spear.
When Jin cast his first spell, five spears were already flying around.
Valeria gathered all of the spears in front of her.
Jin could no longer gawk at her limitless power. He took a battle stance and eyed her.
"Now you want to fight. It's your last chance. Grab your sword."
Valeria pointed to Bradamante, stuck upside down in the sand.
Jin's hand slowly moved towards its handle. However, before he could touch it, he shook his head and refused to grab it.
"I can't."
"You're too stubborn. You'll die."
"We can only find out about that after the fight. And Valeria, I will play your way."
Valeria smiled. Then, her eyes narrowed.
"My way, you say. We'll see, my apprentice."
The five spears moved, each angled in different directions. And from Jin's left hand, an Overload Vortex emerged with a screech.
"I see you have a new master? Well, it would have been a waste of talent if I weren't there. But Kidard Hall was the best you could find?"
His only master, and her only apprentice. They always called each other that. No other grand magician could become Jin's master, and no other genius could become Valeria's apprentice.
Knowing that, Valeria carefully selected and intentionally used vocabulary that was brutal for Jin. All to take him down a little more easily. To make his heart and emotions waver just a bit to find an opening.
That was how Valeria 'played'. If she planned on killing someone, she would never discriminate between different methods—even the petty ones.
However, the moment she first bet her life and the moment she let him grab his sword were all in kindness and love for her apprentice.
Screeeeeeeeech…!
The mana from the lightning spears slowly got sucked into the vortex.
Absorbing Valeria's magic was hard. If he wanted to induce a mana overflow within her through her strong Mana Release, the only answer was Heavenly Defiance.
'I have to buy time until I can cast Heavenly Defiance.'
Valeria probably already knew Jin's plan, so he also started thinking ahead.
'She won't last long with five spears, so she'll probably only keep one or two and the rest are probably fakes.'
Jin had to rely on identifying which spear was fake.
Shiiiiiing, shiiieeek! Shwwwwwick!
While dodging what he can, he altered the course of more accurate projectiles with his vortex. With the pulling force of the vortex, he made small deviations in the course of the trajectory which gave him room to dodge.
At the same time, he multicasted to prepare Heavenly Defiance. In three minutes, he could cast the spell at about seventy percent of its power.
Of course, Valeria wouldn't only throw lightning spears.
Despite the multiple lightning spears, it was all just one spell. And just like Jin, Valeria was a multicaster.
Pssshhh!
Valeria stuck her staff into the sand, and a magic circle appeared. One that enclosed her and Jin who was busy dodging all of the spears.
Fwoooom!
An eerie sound echoed through the battlefield. Valeria's lips moved quickly, and the magic circle turned blood red.
Within the magic circle, chains of fire emerged. Flaming chains akin to massive snakes gathered around Jin to swallow him whole.
Beyond his vision hazed by the fire, the spears continued to fly around. One of the spears skimmed by Jin's neck. If it weren't for the Overload Vortex, it would have pierced through his throat.
"Keuph!"
A burning heat traveled throughout his entire body, the burning sensation stifling him.
Dodging the chains of fire that were closing in was impossible. A force field would only delay his death by a few seconds.
As he thought of his next move, one chain grabbed him by the ankle. He held his breath to not lose focus the moment the scorching pain reached his brain.
Thankfully, Jin recalled his Overload Vortex and opened the summoning gate.
Fwooooosh!
A blue flame cut through the surroundings like a blade.
Caw!
A blue phoenix emerged from the summoning gate with a majestic cry.
Valeria's eyes shook.
"And you got Tess?"
Blue and red flames mixed together. Tess stomped on the chains tied to Jin's ankle and disintegrated them. Jin fell to his knees and regained his breath.
His ankle bones were exposed. However, there was no time to heal. The flaming chains were no longer a problem, but the lightning spears continued to charge towards him and Tess.
'One more minute.'
If he held on for a little longer, his ultimate spell would be complete. He only had one chance. However, within that one minute, if he didn't find the real lightning spears, it would be impossible.
[Kraaaaa!]
Tess's wings violently flapped, forcing powerful winds in all directions. However, it wasn't even close to the phoenix's true strength due to Jin's lack of mana.
The hydration from Valeria's water helped him recover a bit, but he didn't recover fully. The desert just destroyed his body overall, and he poured in the rest of his mana into preparing Heavenly Defiance. Summoning Tess was scraping up the rest of his energy.
Thunk…!
One spear penetrated Tess's chest. Valeria had immediately realized that it couldn't use its full strength, so she had changed targets.
Thunk! Thunk!
Three spears pierced through the phoenix's chest. Jin was dripping in sweat just to complete his spell.
Tess screeched, then limped to stand between Jin and Valeria.
An apology from the Lord of Flames.
'That was enough.'
Before the last two spears could pierce Tess, the cast on Heavenly Defiance finally completed.
Tess immediately became a small ball of flame before flying into the dimensional portal, and the broken chains of fire shattered on the floor.
Kaaaaang!
In the clear skies, the massive mana disk floated up and filled it. The overload magic filled the entire area, and the lightning spears slowly lost their form.
A stream of blood dribbled out between Valeria's lips. Heavenly Defiance messed with her mana pool.
Jin also threw up a clump of blood. Bending over, a black blotch of blood splattered on the ground. He quickly examined his surroundings.
The early stages of mana overflow began.
However, the lightning spears remained hovering in the air.
'She's still a monster. Just like I remember…'
No other 8-star in the world could mimic her ability.
In a short amount of time, she cast five lightning spears and a flame spell. She should be barely preventing herself from losing all her mana. If she lost concentration for only one moment, she would succumb to overflow.
However, Valeria worked through Heavenly Defiance. She held onto her mana tightly. In fact, she had been waiting for the spell to be cast.
"Mana overflow is only for those who can't control their own mana."
She spat blood into the sand then recovered her stability. The fading lightning spears regained their color and flew around her.
"I assume you got something else in stock? There's no way it can just end like this."
Jin didn't answer. He looked up and met her eyes.
Valeria slowly walked towards him.
"No, I lost. I have nothing else I can do."
"Liar."
"I want to see you up close one last time."
Jin slowly limped towards her.
Every step he took, blood dropped from his ear and soaked the scorching sand.
Thump.
Thump.
"Stop. If you come any closer, I'll use my spears. You definitely prepared something."
"When have I ever lied to you?"
"...Did I anticipate too much?"
"Am I not enough for a 16-year-old?"
"That prevented you from growing. You could definitely get stronger. Now stop. I will use my spears."
There were only ten steps between them.
'One more step.'
As he walked, he identified which lightning spears were real. Heavenly Defiance was cast solely for that reason.
'The top left one.'
It was the only one that didn't flicker.
'If I charge in, then all five will shoot towards me. But only that one will remain. Her mana has probably emptied out by now as well.'
Just dodging two would be half of them. He would block two of the other three. As for the last one, it would chase him until the end.
He had to catch it.
Was it possible with the current state of his leg? With his ankle that was ripped apart?
Thinking about those things was pointless. If he couldn't do it, the only result was death.
The moment Jin lifted his other leg…
"What are you doing?"
Valeria's eyes became alert, and she swung her staff violently. As the spears shot towards Jin, he threw his body towards her with a short jump.
The first spear missed. The instant it missed, it disappeared into thin air.
The second spear hit him square on the back.
Had he not obtained the Black Light Cuirass, he would have died then and there.
Clang!
The spear hit the armor, the impact causing Jin to spit blood. Valeria didn't expect this. The second spear disappeared as well.
Dodging his tackle, Valeria carefully aimed the spears to prepare for Jin's next attack.
"It seems you're out of mana. Seeing that the spears are dying out."
Valeria continued her onslaught.
However, beyond his expectations, the third spear was the real one. The fourth and fifth quickly followed.
The remaining spears flew towards Jin, and he activated Myulta's Rune. The real spear that had been flying towards his head deflected off his helm. The other spears went for his thighs.
Five steps left between them. Jin just fell to his knees. The lightning spears that should have pierced and damaged his thighs disappeared. The only spear left was the real one, just as Jin predicted.
Before his head could fall to the ground, he pushed his body up with all his might. He had to close the remaining gap between them.
"Hmph!"
Valeria backed off and whipped her staff around. Following its movement, the lightning spear flew towards Jin's back.
In the air, Jin had no way of dodging it.
Instead, he revealed a blackened dagger that had been waiting in his sleeve.
Using all his might, he threw it towards her throat.
—————