A beam of radiant crimson light burst from Asghan's left arm piercing the air aiming for Len. Several layers of white shield formed in front of Len as he turned around- showing his back to the approaching crimson.
*Boom
An explosion occurred as Lenierre was thrown in the air like a ragdoll
"LEN!" Kyber screamed as Nier grit his teeth. This was bad.
Asghan however was surprised.
The light that should have raged on had been stopped and Lenierre...was alive.
'I used a massive portion of the stockpile moon energy for that...He shouldn't have had the means to stop it'
Hitting the floor and rolling in it a few times. Lenierre laid on the floor unmoving. Kyber attempted to run towards him but stopped as he saw Len rise up. The cape he wore had been disintegrated on the back along with the 'paladin' uniform revealing the plain white shirt inside. What caught the most the attention however was the glowing bone white sword on his back.
The case had almost completely been destroyed revealing the sword which was beginning to fall from the destroyed but still strapped case.
Before it did however, Len stood up and caught it's handle.
"Now then, let's begin the feast" He said coldly brandishing the sword. A chilling blue glow in his eyes
________
Renzy jumped down the staircase he found in his way directly heading to the location of all the auras. The place seemed completely devoid of joy and meaning that it made Renzy feel pity. The whole place was made from dark cobblestone reeking of weird smell which made Renzy continuously drive the air away even though it was painful.
Most wind mana could be used as a substitute for breathing but the quality was always different and for most, not upto the mark. In Renzy's case, the wind he formed was strangely sharp which made it prickly to breath. He felt as though his nose had little pricks inside it.
Now in a corridor, Renzy didn't stop. He was finally there.
Clink
*Dhush
A trap.
A poisonous gas filled the corridor right as the sound of matchstick lighting up reached Renzy's air.
Renzy instantly concentrated mana in his hands and thrust them forward as fire spread through the gas and-
*Boom
Renzy was thrown away from the impact and collided with the stairs behind him. Suddenly-
*Zwoosh
A magic circle revealed itself on the ceiling above him as a flurry of icy spears emerged accelerating towards him.
Renzy however stood up calmly and rushed towards the end gates of the corridor.
Behind that gate were all the leaders of Unworldly.
*Swoop
Four magic circles revealed themselves surrounding Renzy as he almost reached the end. All of them firing a crimson red beam of light. The same as Asghan used.
"!"
Drawing mana directly from his core. Liquid mana- Renzy initiated a spell he wouldn't use if he was surrounded by friends.
"Hell Vortex"
A green three dimensional hexagonal structure formed above him as the a spiral of wind concentrated and erupted like a tornado clashing with the incoming beams- destroying the beams and the walls surrounding him in a booming explosion.
*BOOOM
Passing the wall before the rubble fell. Renzy looked around in front of him and realised that the place was like a black church. Five people sat around a round table calmly observing him. Renzy looked at them, fury evident in his eyes.
"I see. Someone from the golden league has finally come." Said the magicist wearing glasses with a goatee.
"And a paladin for that matter" Continued a woman who seemed to be plump and tall.
Renzy cranked his neck and was ready for battle when-
""We surrender"" They all said simultaneously.
______________
*BOOOM
The sound of a muffled explosion reached Nier right as Len and Asghan clashed again.
White met the red as no spark flew this time around- the scythe was completely split in half the moment it clashed with the bone sword.
The bone sword immediately dug into Asghan's shoulders but Len couldn't drive the sword further in. Just as he tried to increase his output, the scythe handle began to squirm as fleshy tendrils grew from soon meshing together- regenerating the scythe, now more grotesque.
Len pulled the sword back and backed away dodging Asghan's claw. He stood quickly and whipped away the blood on the bone sword. Blood didn't even stick to the sword.
'This...he seems unaffected by such a gruesome wound...'
"You are a lich" Len suddenly said taking stance.
"Took you long enough" Asghan said as the deep cut in his shoulder began reattaching.
"A Leomartian as well. Using celestial energies. Interesting...to say the least" Len said narrowing his eyes
" 'Interesting'...I hate that word...*Sigh.
That bone sword...It's from a dragon isn't it? Probably Ancient grade as well. I am surprised that the League gave it to you...Oh well. They'll regret their choice after they lose it to me today. A lich is immortal. Especially with my ability. You cannot win"
"The dragon this sword originates from never lost a battle. I'll be content with continuing that legacy. An immortal will die today."
• Concept : Wheel of Fortune
An imaginary wheel containing numbers from one to seven suddenly formed above Len's head and spun on it's own. Asghan didn't interrupt not because he didn't want to but because he was occupied by something else.
Asghan suddenly touched a tree near him with his scythe and all trees and bushes surrounding them suddenly began to shrivel up, as colour drained out of them.
[ Lunar Drain ]
The skill derived from the moon's ability of absorbing sun light. It drained vitality from anything that held life energy and provided it to Asghan giving him the ability to regenerate extreme wounds and physical prowess of great level. The drawback of the ability however was the corruption of his flesh and mind which after reaching a limit could turn him insane and monstrous. The only way to cleanse the corruption accumulated was by letting madness hold him temporarily until the tendrils sunk back in his skin.
That was true when he was a human. By turning into a lich, he increased the limit to which he could accumulate corruption, now able to absorb a large area of life without completely losing his mind.
His body began to distort as the right side of his helmet inflated and popped revealing a black skull with the eye hole having a red flame in it. His right hand which was previously appropriate began to stretch now disproportionate with the body.
Right as he grew, the wheel above Len stopped on number three.
"Not the best but it fits"
The wheel turned into pure mana and suddenly shot itself onto Len's hand, turning into two gloves, one black and the other white.
Both sides now ready suddenly moved-
*Clang
*Clang
*Swee
*Clang
*Clang
The two moved too fast for Nier and Kyber to follow clashing again and again leaving sparks behind.
*Clang!
'The bone sword is extremely durable and can cut through almost any material but my physical strength isn't enough to completely get the advantage even with the Jolly-Jack gloves- besides I can't use mana as he just absorbs it.'
'I have absorbed life energy to my limit and I still barely have the upperhand...what was that wheel? His concept? And what do those glove provide other than physical strength'
*Clang
The scythe sparkling with crimson light met the plain bone sword as the hulking figure of Asghan pressed down but Len kept up-
[ Overflow Burst ]
The hole in Asghan's claw shone with crimson light and fired at point blank range. Anyone would have been caught off guard and hit by the attack but Len already having sensed the attack twisted his body before the emission even took place avoiding the destructive beam of light by a hair's breadth.
*Boom
The beam of light sliced through the ground leaving a miniature valley.
At the same time- Lenierre touched the blood red scythe with his right hand which had the white glove. The moment contact was made- The scythe suddenly lost it's hardness.
Len increased the force in his left hand where he held the bone sword and pressed above stretching the scythe like a rubber and hitting Asghan in the jaw completely breaking it off.
Asghan didn't have time to think about the absurdity of what happened as Len jumped and performed a drop kick right in his stomach launching the behemoth off the ground - crashing onto the walls.
Len didn't waste time as he threw the bone sword from his left hand and punched forward- his left hand stretched like rubber and hit Asghan in the stomach causing Asghan to break through the walls.
*BOOM
The wall fence behind Asghan collapsed as he tumbled on the yard. Len jumped and came from above with the bone sword in both his hands above his head and hacked down.
Asghan stopped tumbling and stood up instantaneously as all the injuries he sustained began to heal astronomically quick. As he did, he stretched his hands holding the scythe and slashed diagonally up with tremendous force.
*BOOM
Len and Asghan's attack collided releasing a ripple in the air as Len was thrown away while the ground beneath Asghan broke forming web shaped cracks.
Mid air however, Len's left hand stretched and grabbed the fence wall he passed by-
His hand continued to stretch and then-
*Schwing
Len launched back like an arrow-
Asghan didn't move and simply waited for Len to reach him. In that moment, recieving a dangerous premonition. Len stretched his hand to the ground and stopped his momentum mid way.
'The black one in his left hand can stretch like rubber and the white glove can turn other things into rubber...Those seem to be the main ability of those gloves aside from physical increase probably...'
Nier and Kyber peeked from the hole in the wall as Kyber watched gritting his teeth.
Nier was frowining as well but his reaction wasn't as grave.
"Len always said that sorcerery battles are just games of rock paper scissors...I can see it now..." Kyber said sighing.
"?"
"Len and Renzy are grade four sorcerers. It is the realm where sorcerers begin to form their concepts. A skill other then their magic ability. Most people barely reach even that high but Len is quite a strong grade four. The who trapped us in the barrier before was incomparably weaker then Renzy or Len yet he had an ability that allowed the weak him to stop even Renzy and Len for some time. Interesting isn't it." Kyber said.
Nier understanding some of it nodded in daze.
"The world is unfair. Your matchups, environment, situation and mindset...All of them need to be good or you'll just die like another fool. There are some freaks however, who do not find the world unfair, who cannot find it unfair because they themselves are the unfair. Forces of nature whose existence itself shakes the world."
Nier looked at Kyber from the corner of his eye. Nier could see an excitement in Kyber's eyes. Ambition.
"Oh, I completely went off track. I wanted to say that, to protect us, Len used his ability but is suffering from the cool down, so he used his concept. If he doesn't win soon then he will completely finish all his mana and die..." Kyber said gravely.
Lichs were opponent extremely hard to fight because they existed only in soul and the body was just a vessel that wouldn't effect them even if it was completely torn apart. It was said that all Lich had limitless stamina and were only held back by the quantities of their mana or in this case, celestial energy.
"So nothing can be done?" Nier suddenly asked
Kyber looked at him for a moment before turning back
"I do not know...I read that lichs have an anchor in their body which holds the soul in place but I don't know if a lich with regenerative capabilities like that could even be harmed."
Nier put the question of celestial energy for later and looked at the battle
"When can I use magic?" Nier suddenly asked.
"It's at different age for everyone but mostly after the age eight or nine when you learn to sense, absorb mana and manipulate it."
Nier nodded in silence
Len needed victory quickly.
*Clang
Len had the same thought.
'I need to finish this now...I do not know how long it'll take for Renley to return but I shouldn't wait for him... especially now that I declared I'll kill him. The side effects of the sword are going to catch up and the gloves will vanish in three minutes. I'll have finished almost all my mana at that point. I have three minutes'
Len looked behind him and tightened his grip on the bone sword. The yard was quite spacious.
'Nier...Kyber...They are at a distance where I still have to be cautious and take care but I don't need to hold back as much'
Len crouched and put his right hand on the ground.
*Wuip
Suddenly- The ground around Len sunk. Len turned the ground around him soft due to which, all the heavy debris above it caused the ground to sink in it self. Especially where Asghan stood. Now in a pit completely sunk in.
And then.
- Rubber Quake
A large magic circle covered the ground and suddenly-
Boom*
The ground shook as vibrations passed through the rubbery ground instantly crushing Asghan and at the same time, Len pressed his right hand on the ground returning it's hardness. The yard was now completely covered with cracks and was thoroughly broken. It wasn't even solid ground but a pile of rubble in a pit. Len stood atop the shaky hold and looked down. He focused and realised that he could still sense a bit of mana.
Mana was the source of life and it was ingrained in all beings of Zelrun. Even if celestial energy users did not the ability to use mana, they did have it in them just lying dormant. It was like oxygen. Completely stripping one of mana would result in death. Len prepared himself attack one more time when-
*Swish.
A red light shone from the cracks beneath as multiple tiny rays of light pierced through-
One of them made a hole through Len's shoulder.