Chapter 250 – Between the Mud and the Lightning
Nathan Evenhart:
I leaped into the air, the mages wasting no time in chasing after me. The woman in her beastly water form surged forward like a furious current, too fast for any conventional attack to land. I dashed through the sky, stepping on platforms of wind I conjured beneath my feet, while lightning crackled around me like protective sentinels.
"I don't know how you're wielding other elements, but it doesn't matter," she said, her voice reverberating like rushing water. Her arm morphed into a massive hammer of water, and she swung it with devastating force. The impact struck me, sending me hurtling downward. But before I hit the ground, I created another wind platform to cushion my fall. Using the momentum, I propelled myself back into the air, electricity coursing through me as I prepared a counterattack.
Before I could strike, a spear of fire streaked through the air and slammed into my back, burning me and sending me tumbling uncontrollably. Mid-flight, a spear of stone materialized and hurtled toward me. I tried to grab it, but as soon as I touched it, it exploded into dust and shards, blinding me momentarily.
"Damn it!" I growled, but there was no time to recover. A shadow loomed behind me, and a kick of overwhelming strength connected with my spine. The demi-human moved like a wild beast, her speed unmatched. I was sent flying like a projectile, spinning uncontrollably until a hammer of ice conjured by the mage struck me with pinpoint precision. The impact hurled me into the roof of a house, shattering it as I crashed through with a deafening explosion.
"I should have seen that coming…" I coughed, spitting blood as I struggled to my feet. Pain seared through my body. But there was no time.
Around me, glowing blue fireballs began to rain down, their light bright and ominous. I recognized the spell instantly. "You've got to be kidding me!" I muttered, throwing myself out of the house just before the fireballs detonated.
The explosion roared in my ears, and the heat licked at my back even from a distance as the house collapsed into a blazing heap of debris. I rolled through the muddy ground, scrambling to my feet amidst the chaos, only to hear the relentless sounds of war and more threats converging from every direction.
That was close, too close!
"Surprise!" a voice called out. I whipped around to face the source. The water mage, clad in her shimmering liquid armor, charged at me with a predatory grin. I reacted quickly, firing bolts of lightning her way, but too late I noticed the water beneath me moving. Like a serpent, it coiled around my ankle and tightened.
Before I could counter, I was violently yanked to the side, slamming into the wall of a house with bone-jarring force. Pain exploded through my back as the air was knocked from my lungs. Dazed, I tried to recover, but I barely had a moment to breathe before something massive came hurtling toward me: a devastating kick from the demi-human, aimed squarely at my face.
I knew that if that blow landed cleanly, it would end me. In a desperate move, I raised my arms, summoning a wind barrier at the very last moment. The impact tore through my defense with monstrous force, hurling me through the air. Walls, furniture, and debris shattered as I crashed through them, breaking everything in my path.
I finally landed inside a partially destroyed wooden structure, my body screaming in agony as I struggled to rise. But there was no reprieve. Walls of ice began to spring up around me, closing in rapidly to form a dome that trapped me inside.
Through the shattered roof, I saw the glowing blue fireballs descending again like blazing meteors, their heat growing unbearable as they approached.
"Shit!" I shouted, conjuring a wind barrier instinctively. The surge of energy shattered the ice dome around me, and I burst out in a vortex of lightning. But as soon as I escaped, another attack greeted me. Stone walls rose rapidly, forming a corridor that launched stone arrows like projectiles from a war machine.
I sprinted through the deadly gauntlet, dodging as best as I could, but a few arrows tore through my flesh, staining the ground with my blood. I leapt into the air, using wind to propel myself upward, desperate to escape the trap.
Before I could gain altitude, I felt something rush at me from the left. A burst of speed preceded a devastating punch that struck me squarely, flinging me higher into the sky. My body spun uncontrollably as fire and ice projectiles streaked toward me.
I countered with blasts of thunder, creating chaotic explosions that helped me regain some balance, but the barrage was relentless. From the ground, spikes of stone shot up with frightening speed, aiming for my predicted landing spot.
Meanwhile, the water beast bounded through the air like a predator, launching itself with increasing ferocity. I watched as it approached, its glistening form cutting through the relentless rain. I channeled lightning through my body and fired a bolt at it, but to my horror, the attack seemed ineffective. Its liquid armor absorbed the impact, dissipating the electricity as if it were nothing.
Her armor is a constant circulation of water. I suspect she's reinforcing it with pure mana underneath. I need to focus the electricity on a specific point.
The water mage surged closer, her armor glowing as she closed the distance. I took a deep breath, focusing. With a swift motion, I executed a kung fu strike enhanced by wind, generating a powerful gust that momentarily stabilized her in mid-air, just enough to line up my next move.
At that moment, the Cursed Blade returned, slicing through the air and slamming into her back with enough force to disrupt her stance. Wasting no time, I propelled myself with wind, closing the gap at devastating speed, and delivered a thunder-charged punch straight to her torso. The impact made her gasp in pain as her armor quivered under the pressure. She lashed out at me, but I blocked her strike in mid-air, gripping her tightly.
Our clash turned into a freefall, with electricity surging through me as I focused on breaking her armor before we hit the ground.
"Ahhh!" she screamed, a mix of pain and rage as the electricity coursed through her body. Taking advantage of her weakened state, I twisted and hurled her into a carriage, the impact reverberating through the street. Without missing a beat, I conjured a wind bomb and launched it at her, creating an explosion that hindered her armor's regeneration.
Moving swiftly, I grabbed her by the hair and unleashed a surge of electricity, dragging her face across the ground with each step. The resistance of her mana shield faltered, and with a final effort, I flung her into a blacksmith's shop. The thunderous crash shook the structure as I stood over her.
"That water hammer really stung," I remarked sarcastically, watching as she struggled to recover.
Before she could mount any response, I lunged, slamming her to the ground and raining down punch after punch on her face. The sharp cracks of each impact echoed, every strike amplified by the lightning coursing through me. Her resistance waned, and the sickening crunch of her skull finally signaled the end of her fight.
Barely catching my breath, I felt the walls behind me explode with staggering force. There was no time to react as a devastating kick struck me, launching me across the battlefield. Pain radiated through every bone in my body as I crashed to a halt.
Refocusing through the haze of agony, I saw the demi-human charging at me, fury etched into her face.
"Time to die!" she bellowed, wielding a massive axe, while the ice mage appeared above, a freezing beam of energy aimed directly at me.
My mind raced as I generated energy through my body, summoning a familiar spell. A whip of wind, crackling with electricity, materialized in my hands. As the ice mage launched his attack and the demi-human charged, I swung the Thunder Whip in a wide arc. The impact sent the ice mage flying backward, but the demi-human, far more resilient, caught the whip with her mud-covered hand, partially insulating the electricity.
Before I could react, she yanked me toward her with inhuman strength, pulling me at high speed. Her punch came like a hammer, striking me square in the chest and launching me backward through the air. I crashed into a pile of debris, pain radiating through my body like a tidal wave, each movement amplifying the agony.
"You're just a bastard full of tricks!" the demi-human snarled, charging toward me with brutal speed. She unleashed a kick that collided with my wind barrier. The explosive impact sent me skidding back, even with my defenses up.
"How about this one?!" I retorted, summoning the Cursed Blade, which spun at high velocity toward her back. She turned with lightning-fast reflexes, catching the blade mid-air.
"I've seen this trick before!" she sneered, her feral grin widening. But in that instant, the sword exploded in a burst of thunderous energy. Seizing the opening, I surged forward, gathering every ounce of energy I could muster.
Just as I closed in, something slammed into my side, stopping me abruptly. The earth mage had appeared with his magical drill, which burrowed into my abdomen, spinning viciously. I screamed in pain but managed to grip the drill with both hands, preventing it from tearing through me completely. Acting on instinct, I headbutted the mage with all my strength, forcing him to stagger back.
"Fire Ray!" came the shout from the fire mage, followed by a blazing torrent aimed directly at my back. With no time to dodge, I spun around, using the earth mage as a shield. The flames engulfed him entirely, but in the same moment, I felt a sharp, searing pain in my back.
Looking over my shoulder, I saw the ice mage standing there, clutching a club that had pierced my flesh.
"Shit!" I cursed, the pain tearing through me, but without wasting any time, I gathered a concentration of energy and unleashed a massive electrical wave. The shockwave was so intense that it blasted the ice and earth mages away, their screams echoing as they crashed to the ground.
The fire mage, still standing, unleashed another wave of flames in my direction. I conjured a small tornado of wind, sucking in the fire and shielding myself from the impact. With the opportunity created, I called the Cursed Blade back to my hand and sprinted toward him at full speed.
As I ran, the sound of the other mages' footsteps closing in grew louder, but I pushed my body to its limit, surging with electricity. The fire mage conjured a barrier of flames, but I enveloped the sword in wind, cutting through the fiery shield like a blade through paper.
"Damn it, he's quick!" he yelled, realizing too late how close I was. In the final instant, I burst into a storm of electricity, increasing my speed exponentially. With a swift motion, I drove the blade deep into his chest.
"FUCK!" he screamed in agony, desperately trying to cast another spell, but I forced the sword deeper. The Cursed Blade's power instantly nullified his magic.
"What...?" he stammered, his eyes wide with confusion and despair. Without hesitation, I delivered a punch to his face, shattering his nose and sending him sprawling backward.
I need to finish him off!
"It won't be that easy to take us down!" the demi-human bellowed, her voice brimming with disdain and confidence. Before I could react, a massive wave of mud surged toward me, swift and unrelenting. Instinctively, I tried to leap out of its path, but a stone spear shot out, piercing my shoulder with brutal force. The impact threw me off balance, and the mud wave consumed me entirely.
I was swept away in the viscous current, my body spinning uncontrollably as I was hurled into debris. Each collision wrung muffled screams from me, quickly silenced as the mud filled my mouth and nose. The weight and density of the sludge dragged me deeper, the pressure mounting as if I were being buried alive.
Everything around me was darkness. I tried to explode with wind, attempting to disperse the mud, but the current was relentless. Stone spikes began to grow within that murky sea, piercing me as I was thrown back and forth. My skin burned from the cuts and the force of the impacts.
With desperate effort, I focused a wind bomb beneath my feet and propelled myself out of the muddy tide. My head broke the surface, and I gasped for air, coughing up mud and blood. But before I could even think about escaping, I felt my body lock in place.
The mud around me hardened like stone, transforming into a solid trap.
My eyes widened in panic. I was completely immobilized, like a statue trapped in a stone mold. I tried to move, but there was no way to break free. Every attempt was futile against the cruel prison that now held me at the mercy of my enemies.