Castra flew up, staying level to level with her enemy. "So why don't you tell me your name?"
The hooded figure did not speak and lashed out with a [Lightning Bolt], a crackling serpent of purple that streaked towards Castra. It slammed harmlessly onto the [Barrier] spell Castra materialised, the lightning exploding into motes of Mana.
What was she doing trying to talk to the enemy? He was clearly here to buy time for his underlings to escape. He must know that the battle was lost.
Should she play along with his tactics or should she go and attack his underlings and kill them? No! Castra decided to fight this hooded man. He was a much greater threat than those would-be [Mages] .
"So, tell me," Castra said. "Is it painful for you to serve the demons? To be their puppet, dancing to their strings like a marionette."
"Not as painful as being cast out by people you know. The pain is worth the power it promises."
Finally, some answers. She could work with this. "You can gain power without betraying your empire. Or have you forgotten that everyone can level up in this world?"
"Not everyone has the luxury to advance beyond a certain stage. No matter how hard you try, no matter your talents, some are simply destined for mediocrity. I will not be one of them."
"Talents," Castra laughed. "You who cannot even hide your presence properly, speak of talents. You whose Mana control is almost laughable. No, you do not have any talents. And the hard work? Any hard working Mage can do twice as much better as you in any spell work, no matter their talents. So spare me your delusions of diligence. You are nothing more than a lazy fool who squanders around all day never working to better yourself, complaining that the world is not fair instead of working hard to make it fair for yourself. Every time your envy grows strong, instead of working for what you want, you try to find shortcuts. And these shortcuts, I assure you, lead only to despair and suffering."
The hooded figure hurled a [Fireball] at her. "How dare you even think of presuming anything about me? You do not even know who I am, my name, and you think you understand who I am?"
Castra waved her hand and a bubble of water took care of the [Fireball] with an angry hiss. "Screaming like a lunatic does not help your case, does it? You are nothing more than a pathetic, jealous fool who does not understand what it means to work hard."
The man literally spat fire from his mouth. She glided in the air, flying to the side—her movements as fluid as water, dodging the tongues of flame that snapped and hissed around her, smoke curling up like a phantom snake.
Castra synergized her mana and a [Lightning Bolt] shattered the night, striking at the hooded figure. She had made him mad enough to disturb his mental image. So instead of erecting a [Barrier] spell, he tried to fly away, the bolt struck him in the arm.
The hooded figure was thrown into violent convulsions, his form jerking and twisting in the air. Eventually, the enemy managed to surround himself with the [Barrier] spell. However, the damage was done. His left arm, from the elbow down, was reduced to charred, unrecognisable flesh.
The man screamed his soul out. "You will pay for this!"
A sorcery of blue like the deepest ocean and colder than the winter's heart washed out of him and surged into the ring of flame that surrounded the village. The flames went out.
"Now what are you going to do, woman? Kill me or save your apprentice?"
Castra looked below as the Titan Spawn surged forward—towards the village and laughed.
"What do you take me for? You think I cannot protect my students and take you on at the same time? Are your standards for the real Great Mages that low? No wonder you had to seek powers from the demons. Pathetic!"
Besides, she had no intention of helping her apprentices openly. They had to learn to fight for themselves—learn she wouldn't always be there to help them. Of course she would make sure they survived, they just would not know that she had helped.
And it was not just about teaching them to grow strong. She didn't want him to grow comfortable because of her presence. They might start thinking that they will remain safe as long as she was there with them. No one was ever safe in this line of work and she wanted them to know that fact to their very bones.
"I have what I came here to do," The hooded man said, "I will be taking my leave."
"Not so fast," Castra said.
Castra raised her hand, channelling all the Mana she could without endangering her Magicore, and sent out a tide of flame that would have incinerated an entire village.
The flames caught the man even before he could turn and fly away. The hooded figure exploded into particles of light. Castra gaped, then laughed out loud. It was a clone!
And she had thought she was being clever with her words. He must have been laughing at her while controlling the clone. It seemed that her enemy was not as weak as she had first thought. But the fact that he used a clone against her meant he feared her and understood he would not survive another direct encounter with her.
She knew she should have been angry at his escape, but she was not. The man was giving her a thrilling hunt, and she'd gladly take part and catch the game that was good at running away, if nothing else.
Her laughter rang out like a shockwave across the cloudy sky.