Chapter 109: An Arrow
"N-no—" the mage hit by his ally’s flame beam realized it as well: that faint yet nevertheless manic smile of the young man as he approached, making instinct scream in warning.
He’s next.
And this mage’s instinct is proven to be right as his senses fail to keep up with the speed of his opponent’s movement, only realizing that he had been hit as he realized that he had already fallen to the ground, his vision the only thing telling him of the changes as his entire body turns numb.
’M-monster!!’
Once more, a single slash is all that it takes for Novus to incapacitate yet another one of them, causing the rogue mages’ minds to brand him with such a title, their bodies slightly trembling at the thought of being dealt with by the opponent effortlessly weaving or tanking each attack he receives from them.
"Useless bunch!! Don’t be scared; there have to be some limits to how much he can regenerate, continue attacking!!"
Seemingly knowing what the younger mages are thinking of, the more experienced mages watching the battle finally couldn’t bear to watch things unfold so messily anymore, both of them deciding to jump into the fray intending to deal with the young man now as well.
A sharp, refined pillar of ice began forming as an arctic blue magic circle began forming on top of the female veteran’s head, the spell’s sharp, piercing side aimed directly at the young man as if she didn’t have any intention of letting him go at all.
Meanwhile, the man manifested the greyish magic circle of Beast Control Magic once more, expanding its range while imbuing far more mana than he ever did before, intending to take back the control of the beasts rampaging away out of fear of their opponent.
Novus’ instincts warned him, prompting him to push Sensory Expansion once more as he saw beneath the path, lattices and nodes revealing themselves once more as he saw inner workings of the spells around him, the first, the solid, helical structure of the ice stake aimed at him.
As for the other one, the beast control magic, it appears more similar to the domain in which Gallad manifested his magic, prompting him to conclude something as a smile appears on his face.
’I see... so it’s an area-based spell... then I can just—’
This time, it was his turn to be taken by extreme surprise as he saw a blur coming from his enemies’ midst and, right now, utilizing the second layer of Sensory Expansion, he failed to see the path of attack directed at him, rendering him incapable of avoiding the explosive speed of the azure blur rushing at his being.
Mana surged towards him as he braced for impact, coating his arms with a defensive barrier of mana in an attempt to block the spell.
A severe underestimation on his part.
Despite Gallad being deemed the strongest among the rogue academy operatives, compatibility, along with his failure to use the right technique at the right time, became Novus’ downfall on this exchange, as he can only watch himself being flung all the way back to the walls of the dome with a huge ice stake piercing his abdomen.
"Gahhckk!! Cough!!" as his back slammed on the cold walls, he couldn’t help but cough as his organs were shaken by the impact, not to mention the majority of his left lung being turned into nothing but mush as flesh pasted on the wall, then falling to the ground.
His sight blurs and vision darkens as he feels blood being drained quickly out of his body, forcing him to make a decision that even he himself will regret.
The cold ice sticks to his skin, his flesh and the remnant of his left lung, searing them like burning fire and making his entire body feel intense chill, his breathing heavy, near heaving, as blood threatens to choke him to death with each cough, only being prevented as he bows down with open mouth, constantly letting said blood out.
’Did she... manifest true ice by freezing the surrounding... that woman... despite both of them being ice elemental mages, she’s way more dangerous than Venica...’
Seeing the stake’s structure through Sensory Expansion, he couldn’t help but feel amazed despite his current state, the stake showing no lattice nor nodes, meaning one thing and one thing only.
Instead of ice being manifested through magic, the process in which the veteran mage made her spell make it so that it is as real as it can get, rendering his capability of disabling spells useless in front of her.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that he plans on just giving up there; his eyes, despite his darkened, blurry vision, still hold a great, burning battle intent; his bloodied face reveals a manic smile as he forces himself to raise his right arm.
Then, with a single swing, Mana Blade cuts the ice into two, the other half falling down the ground as all in the dome watch what the young man is about to do.
Once again, he took a step forward, the frozen stake already sticking to his skin and flesh, yet nevertheless, he endured, each step tearing through his flesh and making his head ring from the pain.
"Ghrkk... ghaa— AGHH!!!"
[Immortal Energy: 1070/1166]
[Immortal Energy: 1040/1166]
[Immortal Energy: 1010/1166]
He grits his teeth as Immortal Energy continues sustaining his severely injured body, each small step that tears his flesh away making his targets feel their heart being stuck in their throat, as from the initial surprise they felt for him being able to infiltrate this place, emotions began transforming once more.
From terror when they bear witness to his overwhelming combat prowess.
And now, sheer horror as they witnessed what can only be deemed as a demonic figure unkillable by normal means moving forward yet again, with a frozen, gaping hole near his heart, where his lungs are supposed to be.
"Hahh... hahh... hahh..."
[Immortal Energy: 980/1166]
[Immortal Energy: 950/1166]
Eventually, even the traces of that freezing attack were removed as bones grow, flesh contorts and recovers, and then skin heals, leaving his body without blemish or any mark of the violent, brutal attack he received at all.
"You... then let’s see how much you can regenerate!!" seeing her spell being rendered without effect by their opponent, the female veteran mage couldn’t help but panic as she began casting spells once more, this time manifesting multitudes of those ice stakes, her action prompting the rest of the mages to take action as well.
"Hilderan, wait, you don’t need to waste strength anymore..." before she can even act, though, she hears a familiar voice- the other veteran mage stopping her from acting as he points at the beasts he had finally regained control of, each of them in a circle, surrounding the students that will be teleported away from this place any minute now.
"Boy, if you dare make even just a single move, I will not hesitate to let our beast devour your schoolmates!!" the veteran threatened with seriousness to his tone, his words as if he didn’t even become an academy operative once in his life, the value he put upon the numerous students in this place nothing more than a bargaining chip for them to render their opponent immobile.
Seeing Novus not moving from his threat, the veteran couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction as he recalled all the abilities he had shown all throughout the battle, a greedy light flashing in his eyes as he intended to also bring this young man back for him to study with the intent of taking all his abilities for himself.
"Hahaha!! That’s it, that’s it!! Now, don’t move and let our mages restrain you—" excitement began surging the veteran’s face as he felt like he was going to have a big catch with this one student alone, his face still sporting the same excited smile as his words were suddenly interrupted by something.
Sunlight began peering through a small hole made from the top of the dome, said light shining directly upon the expert who fell silent, unable to finish his words.
That very same light allows everyone to figure out the reason for his sudden silence.
On his forehead, a coin-sized hole that pierces all the way to the back of his head appears, an arrow planting itself on the ground behind him, blood and brain matter still coating its shaft as its head burrows itself deep in the ground.
With a thud, his body fell, cold and lifeless, far removed from his previous excited demeanor.