Demanding a clear explanation as to why they had to search his home, Thurin and his entourage were already well on their way there. Not that they could hide their movements to him, Augustinus was well aware of what they were doing.
They had gone with a good hundred men in total, Thurin and Lucas at the front, Nero and the members of the Hidden Order behind them. They moved with a steady pace towards Augustinus's palace.
When they reached the woods before his massive mansion they were surprised to see the man they were looking for waiting for them. He wore a dark red bathroom robe and was smoking something similar to the drugs that were widespread in the Empire.
He simply stood there, staring at both Lucas and Thurin when suddenly, a large man appeared behind him. Being at least two heads taller than Thurin, his body basically a small mountain. Everyone in Thurin's entourage suddenly froze in place, even Lucas was surprised for a moment.
The stature of the man was impressive, but it wasn't the reason they were so surprised, but rather, his skin color.
"Another Starborn?", Thurin mumbled as he feared the worst. Lucas blocked Thurin from moving forward. "Step back Thurin.", his tone clearly indicated that there was no room for banter or refusals. Taking a few steps back, Nero stood right next to him to protect his Emperor best he could.
"Name's Grok, let's fight."
"You're not the one who assassinated Alex, are you?"
"Assassination? Hah! Like I need to hide from my enemies, now come! Let's see if you're any better than that bearded guy."
Lucas didn't fully understand what he was talking about, but knew it wasn't the time for talking. Against other opponents, he would be able to talk and gain a lot of information, but here, that didn't seem like an option.
Stepping closer to Grok, Lucas realized what kind of behemoth he was facing. The man's fists were as big as his head. Still, Lucas had undergone two trials and should've been plenty strong to handle him.
Seeing his opponent raise his massive fist, Lucas countered it with a basic punch to see their overall difference. The fists landed on each other, Lucas pushed through and made Grok take a step back. Seeing that power, Lucas felt a bit relieved, but then he realized. They were both mages why were they punching each other?
'What the hell is this man? He's a mage, but hasn't used any magic? And he equals us in strength even though we went through 2 trials? This doesn't make any sense.'
'Shut it, his physique and power is similar to the ones who followed the Martial class in the academy. The only issue is...'
'He still hasn't used any magic, but already has the power of a Tier 2.'
'Yeah.. this one isn't going to be easy. At least we're stronger when it comes to physical attacks. I'll keep a watch on his mana. And in case things turn bad, we always have a way out.'
'Thanks.'
Lucas started to fight Grok seriously, instead of letting their fists collide, he dodged them to counterattack. His punches were strong enough to make him take a step back each time, but his body stayed in perfect condition.
As the fight dragged out, Lucas knew he had to give the man a decisive attack to finish it all off. Hitting him in the gut, chest or face didn't achieve anything yet. The living boulder was still standing strong.
'Neck.'
Enhancing his muscles with mana, Lucas sped up. Dodging the initial attack, he swerved around his back before using his hand to chop straight at his nape. When suddenly, before he could make contact, his entire arm got stuck in place.
"Huh?", Lucas was perplexed to see the threads he saw in the castle reappear.
Grok turned around and hit Lucas straight in the gut, sending him flying. Landing on the ground, he recovered quickly. There were multiple things that stood out to him. Analyzing what happened just now, he knew two things.
First, Grok was growing stronger as the fight went on, at first he overpowered him slightly, now, he can keep his ground. And second; 'He's not alone, the other one is here as well.'
'Shit, those annoying threads are going to be a pain in the ass.'
'Dammit.'
'There's one good point though, his mana is willpowerless, and it doesn't seem like he can actually use it. I'll keep observing it.'
From that single punch Lucas was hurting, but being distracted by his pain wasn't going to be helpful in any way. Standing back up he stared at Grok while spreading his willpower wider than usual, yet he couldn't find the other assassin.
Clicking his tongue, Lucas decided to get rid of Grok as fast as possible. Their fists collided once more, pushing them both back. Lucas almost fell backwards, and his hatred flared when he saw that Grok stood strong.
He had gotten strong enough to handle his physical strength aided with muscle enhancement. Lucas realized that mana was being spread in his body, but it wasn't being used for spells, simply physical reinforcement. If that was the case, the longer the battle lasted, the harder it would become.
A sudden fear that he might lose appeared in his mind, but he quickly shoved it aside.
'He's just a brute, one Dark Beam, and he's gone.'
'Calm down for crying out loud, we're not fucked yet. Stay focussed.'
Lucas amped up his mana, boosting his strength and speed further. Grok never stopped trying to hit Lucas with all his might, his punches were strong enough to create small bursts of wind.
Dodging his attack was starting to prove harder and harder, it was like Grok was learning how to fight him in real time. Each time he dodged a certain way, Grok almost always found a way to corner him after he dodged. When he finally found an opening, a bunch of mana gathered around his hand. Aiming it at Grok, his hand was pulled back by the same threads.
This time though, things would be different, Dark mana instantly appeared on his skin, removing the strings almost instantly. Sadly, that slight moment of hesitation was enough for Grok to turn around and hit him square in the face. Falling to the ground, he immediately somersaulted and regained his stability.
"Enough.", raising his hand, he let the magic in his body flourish as enough energy for a Dark Beam was being prepared in his hand, the strings came out of nowhere and pulled his arm back. The mana flowed from one side of his body to the center, letting him shoot out of his chest, but the moment the beam came out, Grok was pulled out of the way.
He didn't dodge, the strings had taken him aside. The Beam left nothing standing in its wake. Thurin and Carian had seen it a couple of times, but the others hadn't. Grok was surprised to see a move that was capable of killing him, even his partner was shocked. Only Augustinus looked calm as he smoked his cigar in peace.
Grasping the initiative, he stomped his foot on the ground, launching two Earth Pikes towards Grok, one from behind him and on in front. It was a basic tactic that wouldn't work on a lot of mages, but Grok was an exception. He grabbed the stone spike in front of him and broke it off while the other penetrated his back.
Strings were attached to the latter, but they weren't strong enough to stop the earth moving. The Earth Spike had gone through his side, dealing enough damage to get rid of an average mage. Sadly, Grok wasn't one of them. Stepping forward, the damage was visibly getting repaired at an impossible to believe rate.
In a matter of seconds, he looked as good as new, no, he looked even stronger than before. Lucas saw the flesh grow back at inhuman speeds and never felt so jealous. But more so than that, he was starting to grasp at straws of strategies. The best thing he could think of would be to hit him from point-blank.
The issue was that he was constantly harassed by the strings that appeared as if from nowhere. Still, if he was able to remove the strings around both Grok and himself at the right time, his partner wouldn't be able to intervene.
Rushing towards Grok, they entered their dangerous dance once more, with Grok launching heavy punches capable of destroying stone. Lucas on the other hand was gathering his mana once more but this time it was floating throughout his body, making it hard to figure out where he would launch it.
The moment he found a perfect spot, he punched towards Grok's chest, his hand covered in stone and Darkness. String appeared to pull him back, but the Darkness made sure that wouldn't happen.
Plunging his hand straight into the chest of his enemy, he suddenly got stuck. All the Darkness energy around his arm evaporated in an instant as he saw Grok look down on him. The muscles around his chest were clamping down on him. His flesh was trying to grow over his hand.
'What in the? Is he just a ball of Light?'
Still, Lucas gathered his energy to blow the man up from the inside, but in that small moment of surprise, Grok already had his fist ready for the next blow. Punching him straight in the gut, Lucas went flying.
He was starting to lose his temper, each time he thought he finally had an opening he got distracted or surprised and pushed back. Spitting out the blood that had been pooling in his mouth, he wiped his mouth before conjuring a long spear with a flat tip at the end.
"If you're going to fight like a beast, I'll treat you like one too.", Lucas thought that if those strings appeared when he was gathering his mana, he would just keep getting caught of guard. With this, as long as he was able to touch Grok he would be able to destroy the man from the inside out.
"Hahaha, you're going to use that stupid stick to fight me? Just give up and die for me!"
Grok laughed loudly as he ran towards Lucas. Seeing a perfect opportunity, Lucas poured mana through his leg and displaced the ground, shuffling him and Grok around, making Grok lose his balance and placing Lucas at Grok's back.
Having the perfect spot, he simply pushed the staff towards Grok. The threads sprung to life as they held the staff back, only for the staff to grow longer and reach Grok. Imprinting his rune with fire magic into his skin, Lucas was certain to pour a ton of his aura straight into the man.
If his mana was willpowerless, then all that he needed was to pour his own into it. Then Grok would become nothing but a ball of destruction.
He cared little for the immediate consequences, he needed to win. If his mental state would crumble for a moment, so be it. More strings appeared and were able to pull Lucas back, especially since they appeared around his neck. Luckily, Lucas was able to just conjure dark mana around his neck to remove the strings.
An ordinary mage would have to send the mana towards their hands and then bring their hands to their neck, Lucas was able to skip that entire part.
"Hahahaha!", Grok started to laugh loudly, Lucas saw that his aura was starting to consume more mana inside his body, making him weaker. The more chaotic a person acted the easier to predict, or that was Lucas's view on things.
"Using your aura on me? You absolute fool. You think I don't have an aura or something?", an aura appeared around Grok. His body was surrounded by a light red air, as if fire was surrounding him.
"Looks like our auras are quite compatible, you've just made me stronger! Hahaha!", Lucas scanned his body once more to find a terrible truth. His own aura was mixing with Grok's, creating something that boosted his abilities without removing his rationale.
Grok felt a certain power he had never felt before, but it was invigorating, he felt like everything was in his hands. Looking at the shocked Lucas, he felt that he had to test his powers before they disappeared.
"You know, they said that you were a dangerous mage that was capable of killing some Rank 2 brat while you were just Rank 1. But looking at you now, it's clear that was pure luck. All those warnings and precautions, hahaha, what a bunch of fools! You're a lot weaker than they think! Hahaha!"
Hearing him laugh so loudly, Lucas fell into a spiral of hatred. His own rune, which he personally designed after painstaking trail and error was one of his trump cards. Something he used as a last resort. Yet now it only helped the enemy?
A feeling of hopelessness set in. What did he have left to use against him? Basic attacks only slightly damaged him, but healed in an instant. Strong attacks were redirected due to the strings. Even if he managed to get rid of the strings, they would simply pull Grok out of the way. His rune wasn't helpful here, so what was left?
He didn't have the time to think of something, he didn't know who he was up against. Didn't know his powers or weaknesses. If he had the time and knowledge, Grok would be easily taken care off. Yet now, he was caught off guard. He was prepared to fight against the assassin, not this breathing boulder. He had but a single idea left.
As this feeling of hopelessness turned to despair Lucas recognized the feeling all too well. It wasn't something he ever wanted to remember. To feel so scared and panicked that he would rather run away.
His heart rate increased as his mind started to go in overdrive. His own rune had long escaped his control, rampaging inside his dome. Scenes of long past flashed over his eyes. Would it turn out like this again? Would he have to abandon everything and run away? Would he even be able to?
Lucas's eyes dashed over the people present. Thurin was the only one he cared a little for, the others were expendable. Would he be able to take Thurin with him, demanding the soldiers to hold Grok back for just a few minutes? No, seconds?
How would he even explain it to Carian or Thurin? What would he do next? The barbarians would've probably acted by now and their Empire would be in danger. Would he be able to live with abandoning everything he worked so hard for, just so he could survive a bit longer?
They wouldn't stop hunting for him, that was clear, how much time would he spare by running away now? A month if he was lucky? As Lucas was starting to go insane with questions the sound of a sword being swung appeared.
Thurin, donned in full mana armor was swinging his sword in the air, at seemingly random spots. "Men! Surround them both and swing your weapons!"
At first, the men simply stared blankly, but Nero quickly followed his ruler and summoned his weapons to swing in the air. It only took a few swings, but he saw the light reflect on the strings he cut. Seeing that, he instantly understood what had to happen.
"MEN! WHY ARE YOU STANDING STILL! MOVE IT! SWING THOSE SWORDS!", yelling with his entire being, the soldiers, rushed to form a circle around Lucas and Grok to swing at the air. To any onlooker, it must've looked strange, but everyone present knew exactly what they were doing.
One summoned a sword to cut the strings, some conjured a spear to grab as many strings at once, others looked for them before cutting them with a dagger. Each person was using their favorite weapon to remove as many strings as they could.
"Lucas. Get up.", Thurin spoke in the voice of a true ruler which the Empire so badly was missing, "Get rid of that piece of shit, I demand it!"
Lucas felt something he had never felt before, he couldn't even describe it. Was it a feeling of relief? Happiness? Trust? Encouragement? None of those or perhaps all of them. Either way, Lucas found a way to move forward.
"Hahahaha!", Lucas laughed loudly, his rune was already out of control, but instead of letting it rule over him, he took the power it gave and controlled it instead. Releasing his aura around him, he was surrounded by a dark red air that seemed to pulse. Tendrils appeared to grab unto the ground and air.
Grok, who had been staring at him finally saw Lucas stand up again. It was time for this fight to continue. He felt a bit excited to see what would happen next. His fighting spirit surged as he rushed towards Lucas.
Lucas, seeing his opponent dash towards him, he felt all his emotions bundle into a single attack. His aura, all converting into a single spot, Lucas raised his hand, which met Grok's attack full on.
Hitting his hand, Grok got stuck in place. With the boost in power, he should've been able to overpower Lucas easily, yet he stood still. All the power in that single attack, vanishing in an instant as dark red tendrils covered his arm, reaching towards his chest.
He wanted to pull his arm back, but the tendrils held him back. Raising his other fist, he stopped in his tracks as he saw the mana converging towards Lucas's fist. The mana that was in the surroundings all flowed towards a single place.
As the mana started to make the surroundings tremble, Grok finally understood what it meant to feel mana. He could feel it, the power that kept growing right in front of his eyes immobilized him as if he was mesmerized by the pure power.
Lucas lowered down to his knees as he kept gathering a ton of mana until his spell was complete. From the center of the tendrils, a massive Light Red Beam shot out, reaching towards the Stars, everyone in the Underground saw that sudden beam of light.
The power was immense, something that Lucas had never summoned before, the culmination of his research, even he didn't know what it would look like. After that beam was fired off, there was complete silence reigning over the field.
Not a single sound was heard as everyone was shocked to see such a devastating attack. It quite literally reached the Stars, the Gods.
After such an attack, Grok had lost his entire arm and half of his chest. There was no chance of recovering from this, he fell lifeless to the ground as Lucas almost felt the need to do the exact same. Lucas felt something he never had after using so much power, he didn't know how to describe it, and didn't have the time as well.
Augustinus who had been bored throughout the fight had his eyes open as he stared at the Stars above where the beam ended. He had a slight smile on his face.