Chapter 45: Fifty Guards

The neat grass under his feet caught fire. The grass turned to black ash in a growing circle. The stone path cracked as the extreme heat twisted the ground. The temperature in the courtyard jumped forty degrees in two seconds.

[Ding! Boss-tier enemy detected.]

[Duke Gaius Magnus. Level 45. A-Rank Magma Behemoth Talent.]

[Threat level: HIGH.]

[Note: Magma is melted rock. Clearwater dissolves rock. The System finds this fight funny.]

Behind the Duke, three people got into battle positions. The A-Rank bodyguards.

The first one created a glowing golden shield dome. A Barrier fighter. The shield spread to cover the Duke’s back and sides, a defense wall that would stop most attacks.

The second one held out his right hand. A six-meter spear of white energy appeared from his palm, sparking with destructive power. A Lance fighter. His weapon was pure energy with no weight, made to punch straight through armor.

The third one stood still, his eyes glowing light silver. A Tracker fighter. His Talent boosted his senses to incredible levels, sending live location info to the Duke and the other guards. He was the brain that helped them fight together as a team.

Three A-Rank bodyguards. Levels 38, 40, and 42. Plus a Level 45 Duke.

Alvian stared at the changed noble.

His anger, which had been burning cold all morning, suddenly grew hotter. This man had kidnapped a hurt old soldier and a teenage girl just to make a sixteen-year-old bow down. This man with his A-Rank Talent, his fifty guards, and his deep political power. This man who paid hitmen and mercenaries to murder Academy students.

All that power, all that rank, all that pride. Used only to scare weak people.

"How dare you," the Duke roared. His voice was changed by his form, deeper and rougher, like rocks rubbing together. The words came out with steam and heat. "How dare you attack my home? You E-Rank trash!"

He raised a lava-covered fist. Melted fire dripped from his knuckles, splashing on the ground and burning holes into the stone.

"I will melt you into nothing."

Alvian looked at him.

"Where are they?" His voice was quiet. The words spread across the silent courtyard, cutting through the wavy heat and smoke. The Clearwater Coating on his body steamed. It was not from the Duke’s heat, but from his own Talent reacting to his burning anger.

The Duke laughed. The sound was ugly, like lava bubbling inside a volcano.

"In the dungeons. If you want them, you must go through me." He slammed his fists together. Lava sprayed from the hit, throwing hot drops across the courtyard that burned through stone. "And you are not leaving here alive."

Alvian drew his sword.

The blue lines in the steel glowed brighter. The Clearwater Coating on the blade grew thicker, acid dripping from the edge and hissing on the ground.

The Duke charged.

The ground shook with every step. Nine feet of living volcano, three hundred pounds of lava and muscle, crossing thirty meters in huge steps that broke the stone path. The Barrier fighter made a front shield to protect him. The Lance fighter moved to the right. The Tracker gave movement info to both.

Three A-Rank fighters and a Duke, moving as one team.

Alvian stood his ground.

The courtyard felt very small.

—

The Duke’s fist came down like a falling meteor.

Three hundred pounds of lava-covered rock, driven by super-strong muscle, aimed right at Alvian’s head. The air squeezed in front of the punch, creating a clear shockwave that bent the light. If it hit, it would not just kill him. It would wipe him out, turning him into a red stain on the stone floor.

Alvian activated the Abyssal Dissolution Domain.

He did not use the full fifty-meter range. That would destroy the entire mansion. Tobias and Serah were somewhere under it, chained in dungeons, waiting for him. He could not crush the building on top of them.

He activated a small, close-range version instead. A five-meter ball of dissolving energy around his body.

[Domain activated. Radius: 5 meters.]

[Essence cost: 11 (activation) + 3/second maintenance.]

[Current Essence: 23 → 12.]

The field was invisible. No light. No sound. Just a zone of total destruction around him. The air inside the five meters simply stopped existing. All the tiny elements in the air broke apart. The air dissolved into nothing.

The stone under his feet became soft. The grass inside the range did not burn. The Duke’s heat hit the edge of the field and vanished. Heat came from moving particles. When the particles dissolved, the heat stopped completely.

The Duke’s lava-covered fist entered the five-meter field.

The hard lava shell—thick volcanic rock created by an A-Rank Talent—entered the Domain and started to dissolve.

It did not happen instantly. The Duke’s Talent made new lava faster than the Domain could break it down. New crust formed even while the old shell fell apart. But the melting was clear to see. The hard shell peeled, cracked, and fell off in chunks that turned to grey powder before touching the ground. The liquid lava inside was revealed, and it started melting away too. The rock broke apart into tiny bits, and its high heat quickly vanished.

The Duke’s fist grew smaller.

His eyes went wide behind the lava mask on his face.

"What?" The word came out full of steam and shock. "What is that?"

He stumbled back, breaking away. The Barrier fighter acted fast, creating a magic shield between the Duke and Alvian. The golden dome appeared and pushed outward, trying to force Alvian back.

The edges of the shield started to melt. The energy barrier resisted the acid a little bit, since energy dissolved slower than solid stuff. But "slower" did not mean "stop." The shield surface broke and cracked like a spiderweb. The Barrier fighter grit his teeth and pumped more power into the shield, keeping it together by strong willpower.

Alvian moved forward. The five-meter Domain moved with him, a floating bubble of destruction walking across the courtyard.