Low-Fantasy Occultist Isekai

With Rhea preparing to cast a transmutation spell on their enemies and Elia busy dealing with the other melee fighters, Nick had to face everyone else. Latest content published on novelꞁire.net

Up until now, that hadn't been a problem. Everyone they had to fight could either be overwhelmed by sheer power or outsmarted, but these particular individuals seemed determined not to fit into either of those categories.

The dwarves kept using their weird, almost invisible mind magic, which forced Nick to use [Spirit Blast] repeatedly to disrupt them, lest they interrupt Rhea.

At the same time, the bearkin wailed on his [Force Barrier], and while Nick felt he could have hunkered down and resisted the assault if he had nothing else to worry about, he remained a novice at spiritual magic, and casting [Spirit Blast] consumed too much of his attention to reinforce the shields as much as he should have.

This was demonstrated when, rather than just punching, the bearkin opened his mouth and unleashed a point-blank beam of light at him.

The [Force Barrier] shattered for the first time in a long while, opening the way.

The long claws at the ends of the bearkin's paws made it obvious that he would be disemboweled if he allowed them to reach him.

Still, Nick was nothing if not prepared, and so the bearkin ended up slamming into his [Wind Armor], failing to find purchase.

"Surprise." He grinned, punching out with his left hand and unleashing a [Jet Stream] straight into his chest.

The bearkin went flying back, tumbling, and finally, Nick had the wherewithal to strike back at the dwarves, summoning several more [Jet Streams] and forcing them to duck.

The spells crashed into the ground, unleashing powerful gusts of wind that spiraled upward, but only managed to delay another barrage.

They are annoyingly fast for being so stocky.

Winning so often might have inflated his ego a bit too much, because Nick was becoming increasingly frustrated with his inability to eliminate them. Even worse, the bearkin stood up, revealing that while [Jet Stream] had caused some damage, as shown by the extensive bleeding from a wound in his chest, he wasn't done yet.

If anything, he seemed even stronger as he crossed the distance in a flash, his paw crackling with ominous light.

Instead of remaining passive and tanking the hit as he had up to this point, Nick chose to shake things up.

He couldn't exactly move too far since Rhea was still busy preparing her spell, but that didn't mean he couldn't use the environment to his advantage.

[Minor Elemental Manipulation] had become a familiar spell for him, and although he couldn't use it to create powerful attacks, it was more than capable of altering the landscape.

The ground opened up just as the bearkin took the last step to reach Nick, causing him to stumble. Simultaneously, another wave of invisible, mind-altering magic surged, but Nick didn't bother counteracting this time.

The dwarves had made the mistake of assuming he was disrupting their spells out of fear. This was perfectly understandable, given that Nick had done his best to prevent them from landing even a single attack, but this time, he didn't do anything to stop them.

Instead, he used the time to summon a much more powerful spell. After all, he had set things up. It would be a waste not to use it.

[Wind Burst] slammed into the dwarves from the skies above, completely blindsiding them.

It wasn't a spell Nick used often these days, given how much more effective [Vacuum Sphere] was, but in this instance, it turned out to be just perfect.

The ground around them cratered as a powerful downburst howled, slamming them hard into the ground and even disrupting Elia's fight by knocking one of her opponents aside.

That gave her the leeway to backflip away from a particularly vicious thrust that she would have had to tank otherwise, while simultaneously unleashing another wave of flames, this time tinged with silver.

They emerged much faster, engulfing the surprised ranger who had made the mistake of thinking he had her measure.

A paw slammed into Nick, staggering him. The bearkin looked confused for a moment, clearly having expected that to carve right through him, but it was too late for regrets.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Nick didn't even need to do anything.

"[Transmute!]" echoed from behind him, and the massive enemy had a moment to realize he'd forgotten Nick wasn't alone before a scream ripped from his throat as his limbs began turning into stone.

Fear and pain were powerful sources of strength, and he erupted into a corona of mana, desperately trying to stop the petrification of his flesh, but that was the wrong choice to make.

Rhea may have needed time to cast her magic, but she was no slouch, and her understanding came directly from Ogden. There was no way that uncontrolled bursts of mana would defeat her.

Nick hardly paid the bearkin any attention, considering him already dead.

Now that he was finally free to move, he truly began participating in the battle in earnest.

Elia had done a great job keeping the other enemies occupied and had even eliminated one, but it was clear that she wasn't accustomed to fighting so many thinking beings at once.

[Spirit Blast] after [Spirit Blast] rained down on them, dropping them like flies as Nick channeled his emotions into the magic, hurting something much more delicate than their flesh.

It was interesting to note that those who were hit didn't die on the spot like the rock worm had. Rather, they seemed to shut down, overwhelmed, and fell to the ground, unresponsive to external stimuli.

"Enough!" A voice rumbled, and Nick was surprised to find that one of the dwarves, the one he'd marked as more dangerous, was still well enough to stand, despite having taken a [Wind Burst] directly.

He must have a very high CON.

The other one was still face down in the mud, broken.

A significant amount of mana started to build up as the dwarf's eyes blazed with fury. Grey mist began to cover the battlefield, and Nick knew that allowing him to launch that attack would be very bad.

Even with the spell incomplete, Nick could already see Elia stumble, as if she couldn't tell which way was up or down. Surprisingly, her last opponent also appeared to be affected, which explained why the dwarf had waited so long to cast such a powerful spell.

If this is just the beginning, it will be impossible to fight if it completes.

Just as he was about to try to disrupt the magic with more spiritual attacks, he felt a spark of alien hunger. It took him a moment to realize where it was coming from, and a devious smile spread across his face.

Unsheathing his dagger and coating it with a powerful [Jet Stream] took only a moment. He didn't even need to guide it, as the spirit within seemed to have locked onto the dwarf.

Whatever he was trying to do, the remnant within the dagger wanted to consume it, and so Nick, as a generous owner, allowed it.

The dagger shot from his hand, crossing the distance in a flash. To his credit, the dwarf noticed it coming and, with a grunt of irritation, redirected some of his mist in its path, perhaps thinking it would be enough to stop the seemingly desperate attack.

Dark power erupted, and the dagger pierced through without slowing, even as the mist swirled angrily, as if someone had taken a bite out of it.

A thump. A groan. The dwarf fell, and the mind-altering mist cleared.

The snap of bones that followed as the dagger greedily fed on his corpse was nauseating, but Nick didn't particularly care, as he quickly began to snipe the last enemy, who was clearly still woozy from the mist.

It didn't take long for silence to fall.