The Developer Reborn As Archmage

There was no gradual transition this time. The gray void blinked out at once, and she was instantly back in Vainfall as if someone switched the lights on.

Oh, shit! I wasn’t ready for this!

She caught a split-second glimpse of everything playing out. Her last movement was driving the Warblade into Sarka’s abdomen through the gap Fominel created with his mana blade while flying above.

Several things happened all at once. The Warblade sank into Sarka. It was more like Sarka materialized around the Warblade. His right arm, which was coming down on her, gripped her by the head. His other arm, which was flying away after being severed, flew away. Purple lightning cracked around him, mana bursting out of his glossy black body.

Fominel was screaming from above, entering a head-on dive towards Sarka. Darya caught the red and black energy trails of his other sword, mixed with the white-blue.

Sarka pushed her down with all his strength. He was fixated fully on her now, even in this corpse state; he had correctly designated her as the greatest threat if he let her go.

He had to be nearly out of HP now. Darya was sure she had dealt more than the amount that she needed already. Perhaps he had some emergency replenishment. He slammed her to the mud with all his weight behind the hand.

“Princess!” Fominel’s desperate screams rang out.

Darya couldn’t raise her head with the seven-foot-tall druid trying to suffocate her in the mud.

[Vainfall: Terminate]

She used it just in time to prevent the crushing. She was still disoriented, mud filling her mouth and nostrils. She rolled away, phasing through Sarka’s hand as she coughed up large chunks.

She lost her grip on the Warblade, and it became gray and frozen like the rest of the world instantly. There was a hard cutoff between her as a character and the world. Anything inside her shape could move in the monochrome world; anything even slightly outside or disconnected immediately froze.

The mud blobs that she coughed out also froze mid-air as she rolled away. She could phase through everything. During Terminate, the only solid things were her and the ground.

She didn’t even get to count her seconds before the world caught up to the prediction dots. Sarka’s foot was an inch away from her face. She did her best to roll out of the way as a thick splash of mud fell on her as Sarka adjusted his footing.

He took one glance at her through his glowing purple eyes and lifted his heel to stomp on her.

A white-blue line of mana slashed across his face and sank into his chest. A black-red line of mana slashed across his shoulder and neck.

Fominel was screaming in rage from above. Darya watched as his blades firmly anchored into Sarka’s body. His golden wings had turned to a mist of feathers. Fominel was falling feet first. He twisted his manablades to carve a chunk out of Sarka.

He missed the heel that he wanted to slam Darya with by inches. She managed to slide out of the way just as Fominel twisted his long blades. Clear liquid splashed out of Sarka as he fell on one knee.

Purple mana flashed from his body, and white vapor trails burst from his wounds.

Fominel splashed into the mud, sliding across as he shortened his manablades. He was ready to dash right back at Sarka.

Sarka’s foot was still an inch away from Darya. She realized she was in the perfect position to help Fominel land the blow for sure. First, she had to get back on her feet.

[Vainfall: Terminate]

It took a second to stand up out of the mud as fast as she could. She readied her fist during the next second.

Sarka was hunched with his back turned to her, leaking white-purple mana from his gaping wounds. His neck was missing a chunk, spurting clear liquid as if through a broken pipe.

She saw a luminous crack on his back where Fominel’s blade had already burst through.

[Skill: Hammer Fist]

-15 SP • 280s Cooldown

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She lunged forth during the third second of the Terminate.

“Fom! Go for the head!” She yelled as loudly as she could, driving her fist into Sarka’s damaged spine with her strength fully unlocked. It was more powerful than she thought. She broke straight through his muscles, lodging her fist wrist deep into his blackened flesh.

Sarka drove his elbow into her side. It hit like a truck. The world flashed white for a second, and she felt weak at the knees. She didn’t have the body to brawl with a seven-foot giant man. Fominel dashed past, his white-blue blade slashing across Sarka’s neck. The manablade almost caught her as she hunched forward in pain.

The blade didn’t cut through his neck. Sarka had strengthened his body with mana. The blade was lodged halfway into his neck.

Fominel would’ve lost his weapon if it weren’t made of mana. He retrated the blade, switching to the red-black one. He pointed it straight at Sarka’s head and extended it as Darya swayed away weakly. The blade pierced through Sarka’s forehead and burst from the back of his head.

Sarka twisted in place, a second elbow heading towards Darya as she slipped on the mud. He was glowing purple with mana now.

She had to retreat. She didn’t even want to check her HP. She knew she had to be halfway dead with that elbow she got hit with.

Fominel could do more if she were out of the way. She had to put as much space between them as possible.

She pulled her hand out of Sarka’s back.

[Spell: Repelling Blast]

-419 MP • Sphere • Instant

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A white flash of mana pulsed out of her skin in a spherical blast. Sarka flew about a foot off the ground and slid across the mud. His glowing eyes fell directly on her as he flared the fingers of his right hand already aimed at her. The claws grew out of his forearm as purple mana flashed at the center.

[Vainfall: Terminate]

She leapt out of the way to dodge the mana projectile, which was only inches away from her by the time she activated Terminate. It could’ve gone straight through her chest if she had been a second late.

Ducking under it, she leapt back with all her strength to roll away. She noticed something as she slid across the ground. The purple mana swirling around Sarka had dented the ground around them in a very recognizable shape.

It was a circle.

Grass blades and mud had been sliced in a circle around him.

Coming out of the Terminate, she was blasted with a massive gust of green-white wind. At first, she thought it was an attack, but she felt a lot better as it passed.

Seris was running towards them with her wand drawn. She was screaming from the bottom of her lungs. “He’s going to warp! Get away! Princess! Fom!”

“Wait there!” Darya yelled back at her. She was safely outside the circle. She was charging in to be warped with them rather than be left alone.

Fominel had already sliced into Sarka. The circle flashed purple around them.

[Vainfall: Terminate]

The swirling mana froze in the monochrome world.

[Skill: Wind Step]

-20 SP • 8s Cooldown

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She dashed towards Sarka, closing the gap between them in a split second.

[Spell: Flying Celestian]

-254 MP • Circle • Instant

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She felt herself turn weightless. She was already reaching towards Fominel before activating it. In the next second, she drove straight into him.

[Skill: Smooth Slither]

-30 SP • 30s Cooldown

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She managed to get her arms around Fominel during the last second. The world caught up to the prediction dots. She gripped Fominel around the stomach, driving her head straight into his gut. She heard him belch as he turned weightless.

They flew out of Sarka’s warp circle like a bullet into the sky. One of Fominel’s manablades fell out of his hand and spun into the distant trees.

“P—ince—s!” Fominel coughed as they both flew away from the forest clearing in a diagonal arc into the forest.

A purple column of light erupted behind them with cracking bolts of lightning riddling everything in sight. A shockwave pushed them even further as the light column expanded to fit the circle carved on the ground around Sarka. Mana swirled in a great spiral around it, piercing the dark, stormy sky.

“Fom! Bring back your wings!” Darya yelled, holding onto him tightly.

Fominel wrapped one arm around her as yellow mana burst from his skin. They were tossed away like paper in the swirling vortex of wind around Sarka’s Warp circle. Golden mana feathers grew out of Fominel’s back as thick vapor trails of mana solidified into wings. He unfurled them at full size, still panting from the blow that had knocked all air out of him.

He changed his grip around Darya, hoisting her weightless body upright and hugging her tightly.

“Get back to Seris!” Darya said, her voice muffled against his chest.

Fominel dove forward through sparking bolts of lightning, flying with Darya against the wind. He used a warding spell to protect against the arcs of purple lightning emanating from Sarka.

They took a wide arc around the pillar of light as the swirl spun fast, growing thinner. They made it to the other side of the clearing as the light pillar flickered out. It left a smoking circular pit where Sarka was.

Fominel landed on the grass, golden mana feathers dissipating around him.