Chapter 184: Raphael, Once More
Evan had no way to know what Grawvor was actually thinking. The man kept heading straight for Holy Eton, Evan trailing behind at a careful distance, never closing in. In the trail of destruction left in his wake, Evan noted Grawvor's technique growing steadily sharper — by now, every strike he unleashed proved lethal on the first blow. Evan began to worry in earnest about the Hollingburton delegation. Grawvor was clearly growing more fluent with magic by the hour, forged in real combat, while most of Hollingburton's mages had come up through peaceful years of study — formidable in raw skill, but lacking that same combat instinct. He found himself regretting having ever sent that letter at all.
"Jessica, should we send another letter — warn them not to underestimate him?" Evan said.
Jessica had grown increasingly uneasy these past couple of days herself, and nodded at once. "Grawvor keeps getting stronger. I'll write it now — tell our people not to engage him carelessly."
Just as she said this, a burst of multicolored fireworks lit the sky, accompanied by a massive surge of magical energy. Both their faces changed at once — this was Hollingburton's own signal flare, meaning one of their people had run into serious trouble.
And the direction it came from was exactly where Grawvor had been heading. Evan's face darkened, his stomach knotting. "No need for the letter. Looks like we're already too late. You, Jenny, and Xiaoshuang take it slower — I'll go ahead and see."
With that, space rippled, and he vanished from where he stood. When he reappeared, he was already close to the source of the signal. Without pausing, he blinked again with a short-range teleport, arriving at the scene itself. Several people lay scattered on the ground, and Master Roland was locked in a desperate fight with Grawvor, visibly losing ground.
The moment Evan arrived, the crescent blade shot from his hand, its curved edge flaring bright, a whirlwind coalescing swiftly around it, several cubits of crackling lightning-fire stretching outward as it swept forward.
Grawvor let out a sharp bark. "You dare!" A flame javelin materialized at once, shrieking toward the crescent blade. With a backward flick of his other hand, a string of fire meteors streaked toward Roland. Roland gave a cold grunt, and a cross flew out to intercept the meteors, then swept a hand through the air — an Anti-Magic Array taking shape, expanding rapidly, dropping down over Grawvor.
Grawvor's flame javelin collided with the crescent blade, sending it flying high into the air before detonating, forming a wall of fire that bore down on Evan — clear evidence of just how refined Grawvor's command of magic had already become.
Evan gave a cold smile. The crescent blade, still airborne, spun sharply and flared with a light brighter still, streaking down like a bolt of lightning straight at Grawvor — a move Grawvor hadn't anticipated at all, given the crescent blade's nature set it apart entirely from any ordinary magical item.
The wall of fire in the air stopped short, then dissolved into nothing, sparks of electricity flickering in its wake. Evan had woven an invisible electromagnetic force field, halting the wall of fire and scrambling the ambient energy around it, producing this strange, unnatural collapse.
Facing both the crescent blade and the Anti-Magic Array at once, Grawvor gave a cold grunt, folded both arms, and a massive fireball formed between them. He shoved it outward, immense heat rolling forward as the fireball expanded. The moment he unleashed it, he showed no interest in continuing the fight — a doorway of fire opened behind him, and he stepped through and vanished entirely.
The fireball met the Anti-Magic Array first, faltering there before detonating outright. The crescent blade arrived in the same instant, the blast throwing it clear again. By the time the fireball's heat dissipated and the dust settled, Grawvor was already gone.
"My thanks for arriving when you did. I'd have gone down hard without you," Roland said.
"Master Roland, this isn't my doing — he could have stood against both of us easily enough. He chose to withdraw on his own terms," Evan said. "The others — are they going to be all right?"
He crouched down, feeling for their pulses. He found them beating, though painfully slow, and something in his chest eased considerably — their bodies had already triggered some form of self-preservation. As long as they hadn't died outright on the spot, a legendary mage like Roland could keep them from dying now even if they tried.
Roland gave a rueful smile. "Heathermere, Ortlando, and I split up. After your letter reached us, Ortlando and Heathermere stayed on with the group visiting the theological academy, while I took Professor Marshall and four students to track Grawvor. The moment we crossed paths, Marshall and the students dropped where they stood. If I hadn't acted the instant I did to save them, they'd already have gone to meet the Creator from that single blow."
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He channeled several beams of light into the five bodies as he spoke. Evan examined them as well and found the injuries severe — two students with ruptured organs, two more with bones ground nearly to powder, and Professor Marshall with half his skeleton broken. All five were held together by some protective mechanism, deep in unconsciousness — a particular technique unique to Hollingburton, something like an internal art, which triggered an instant, deathlike stasis the moment a body took catastrophic damage. As long as the brain itself hadn't died, Hollingburton had ways to bring them back.
Evan let out a breath. "This is on me. Grawvor wasn't nearly this dangerous when I sent that letter. Seems his fighting skill's grown at a frightening pace along the way."
Roland, working through each of them in turn, said, "They've taken severe damage — can't be moved for now. Come help me. Set their bones back into place first, and I'll speed the healing."
He pulled a vial of alchemical potion from his robes, uncapping it. Evan sensed a powerful surge of vitality rolling off it. Roland poured a measure into the air, guiding it with his own will into five separate clouds. He pointed, and one cloud condensed into a mist wrapping around one of the student's bodies, thinning gradually until it had fully soaked in. Evan felt the ruptured organs within begin to knit and regenerate, the pulse beneath his fingers growing stronger.
Evan set the bones one by one for each of them, powerful clouds of medicinal mist sinking into each body in turn, though none of them woke yet. Roland said, "That should do it. Give it two hours, perhaps half a day, and once their bodies have mostly repaired themselves, they'll come around."
Two figures were running toward them in the distance, a fairy flying above. Roland glanced over. "Your companions are here. Who's the extra one?"
"A student Jessica's taken on," Evan said.
"Her talent doesn't look like much. Why would Jessica take her on?" Roland's brow furrowed — he'd already gauged Jenny's aptitude at a glance.
"She's the daughter of an old acquaintance. Connected to Professor Mikoyan," Evan said with a smile.
Roland said nothing further. Jessica and Jenny arrived, and Jessica, spotting Roland, stepped forward with a curtsy. "Honored Legendary Mage Roland, we saw the distress flare. Professor Wang got here first — we're sorry we're late. Is everything all right? Jenny, greet Master Roland."
Jenny hurried into a curtsy of her own. Roland said, "Never mind that — it's this old man who owes you thanks. If Marshall hadn't sent that signal before he blacked out, I'd have been no match for Grawvor myself. These five are badly wounded — should wake in about half a day. This young lady's Jenny, is she? I've nothing much to offer, but here — take this token. Come visit my tower sometime, if you're ever free."
He handed over a bronze token, and Jenny thanked him hurriedly. Xiaoshuang, watching, spoke up. "Old man, what about mine?"
Roland turned to her without any irritation at all. "And what would I give you? Your master won't let you into my tower — worried I might do you some harm, though I'd never dream of it. Here — a gemstone for you. A genuine soul gem."
He handed over a soul gem with a broad smile. Evan saw it was a blue stone, brilliantly clear, a tiny figure suspended at its center — a small devil, seemingly struggling within.
Xiaoshuang wrinkled her nose. "Why does this reek of devil? Old man, that smile of yours is thoroughly disgusting, and I don't even like what you're giving me."
"This is worth a fortune, though — one of these is worth ten ordinary magic gems. Sure you don't want it?" Roland said.
"Wait, really? Then give it here!" Xiaoshuang's whole face lit up at once. Evan shook his head beside her.
"Come visit my tower whenever you're free, Xiaoshuang," Roland said, coaxing her along.
Xiaoshuang's guard shot straight back up. "Old man, I hear you study devils for a living. You're not planning to lock me up with them, are you?" Evan couldn't help a smile at that, and even Jessica bit back a laugh.
Far off, a column of sword-force shot skyward. Evan glanced toward it. "Stay here and keep watch. I'll go take a look."
"Be careful. That sword-force felt like Great Knight strength," Roland said.
"Probably Grawvor fighting some knight. I'll go see how far he's actually progressed. Xiaoshuang, stay here — don't follow me," Evan said, catching Xiaoshuang just as she was about to settle on his left shoulder.
"Fine, I won't go." Xiaoshuang pouted and flew off instead to settle on Jessica's shoulder.
Evan vanished from where he stood, reappearing somewhere else. A ripple of magic still hung in the air ahead of him. Rather than teleport again, he layered on Haste and moved on foot. He'd only gone a short distance when he sensed someone approaching, stopping at once, glancing to the side before slipping behind a tree in a flicker of movement.
A familiar figure came into view — a dragon lance in hand, a sword at his hip, a thread of blood at the corner of his mouth. Battered as he looked, nothing could dim the striking bearing about him. Raphael. Evan couldn't help wondering whether he'd simply neglected his prayers lately, to run into this man of all people again.
They'd crossed paths several times before, and each time, Evan had come out ahead — though not through any real superiority in raw combat. If anything, the reverse held true; Evan had always won through wit rather than strength. Raphael had once been a dragon knight, though luck had never favored him — even his own dragon had slipped away from him in the end. But Evan no longer feared him the way he once had. He was a Great Knight himself now. Even if he still fell short of Raphael in swordwork alone, he had magic to close the gap.
The thought had barely crossed his mind when his body shifted slightly. Raphael froze at once, the dragon lance rising, locking onto Evan instantly.