Chapter 54: Blood mist II

Caelus could feel every one of them through the fog.

Their breathing was uneven. The formation they’d built so carefully had begun to fray after losing three people in less than a minute, but they hadn’t broken. The two Earth Knights remained near the mages, their reinforced armor grinding whenever they shifted their weight.

The Fire Mage nearest the center was preparing another wide-area spell while the other kept throwing smaller bursts of flame into the mist, trying to burn away whatever section Caelus might be hiding in.

The martial artists had taken the more sensible approach.

They were spreading out.

That made them harder to ambush individually, but it also made them easier to isolate.

The problem was the Wind Mage.

He was dispersing the fog, and Caelus couldn’t keep replacing those openings forever. Veil Mist was consuming mana at a steady rate, while every movement and spell added another expense.

He needed to become faster.

The Wind Mage raised both hands.

The air shifted.

Moisture rushed away from Caelus as the current swept across the forest, ripping apart another portion of the mist.

"There!"

A martial artist charged through the opening.

His fist, coated in earth, smashed through the space where Caelus had been standing.

The ground ruptured under the impact.

The fighter twisted immediately, sweeping his leg through the fog in case Caelus had moved rather than retreated.

Nothing.

A burst of flame came from behind him.

The martial artist ducked beneath it.

"He’s not there!"

Caelus was already on the other side.

He had moved before the opening was fully created.

His blade flashed through the mist.

The Fire Mage nearest him sensed something and turned too late.

Water Sheathe wrapped the sword in compressed blue light.

The strike carved across the mage’s side.

He staggered.

Caelus was gone before the others could respond.

The wounded mage pressed a hand against his side.

Blood soaked his fingers.

A magic circle glimmered at Caelus’s fingertip.

Death Stalker fired.

The mage threw himself sideways as the projectile screamed through the space where his chest had been. It curved after him, following the blood on his hand.

He raised a wall of fire.

The projectile broke through the first layer, then the second, before the third finally dispersed it.

The mage exhaled and glanced around wildly.

"Stay together!"

The remaining candidates tightened their formation.

Caelus looked at them through the mist.

Then he raised his hand.

The mist shifted, compressing inward.

Five silhouettes formed within it.

They had the rough outlines of people, each appearing at a different point around the formation.

One sprinted from the left. Another moved behind the Earth Knights. Two appeared farther ahead and the fifth charged directly toward the mages.

The candidates reacted immediately.

The Fire Knight swung at the closest figure.

His sword passed through vapor.

The first silhouette vanished.

"Left!"

An Earth Knight turned toward another.

Nothing.

The Wind Mage tore apart the mist around him and found only empty space.

Three silhouettes disappeared.

The fourth crossed behind the formation.

A martial artist pursued it and struck through its chest.

The shape dissolved.

The candidate froze.

The fifth silhouette was already moving toward the wounded Fire Mage.

The mage panicked and unleashed a burst of fire.

The false figure disappeared.

A blade emerged behind him.

Caelus cut across his neck.

The mage dropped before he could turn.

Four.

The Fire Knight roared and charged into the fog.

Caelus sensed the attack coming and shifted sideways.

The Knight’s sword carved through two trees. Wood exploded into the mist.

The man followed immediately, using his momentum to drive a second strike toward Caelus’s ribs.

Caelus caught it.

Steel crashed against the Water Sheathe.

The force drove him backward several steps.

The Fire Knight pressed the advantage, following a strike with another.

Caelus parried one and redirected the next, allowing the sword to pass across his shoulder rather than through it.

Pain flared through his hands.

The Knight drove forward again.

Caelus released the blade with one hand.

The Knight’s eyes widened.

A small magic circle appeared beside Caelus’s palm.

Death Stalker launched at point-blank range.

The Fire Knight twisted.

The projectile clipped his side and tore through the existing wound before continuing into the darkness.

He stumbled.

Caelus stepped forward and drove his sword beneath the Knight’s guard.

Water Sheathe tore through armor and flesh.

The Knight collapsed.

Five.

Caelus withdrew his sword.

Blood spilled freely from the bodies around him, sinking into the fog and staining it crimson. Thin red ribbons of blood drifted, breaking apart into droplets before dispersing into the air.

The battlefield itself was beginning to turn red.

His mana reserves were dropping faster.

He could feel Veil Mist becoming heavier to maintain.

The two Earth Knights moved apart.

The Wind Mage started generating constant currents around himself.

The martial artists abandoned the formation entirely.

One rushed through the trees.

Another moved low, using the terrain as cover.

The last Fire Mage remained behind the Earth Knights, throwing flames in random directions.

Caelus moved.

The fog shifted around him.

The first martial artist sensed something and spun, throwing a fire-coated elbow toward his face.

Caelus ducked beneath it.

The follow-up kick came immediately.

He caught the leg, twisted the fighter’s balance away, and cut across the thigh.

The martial artist staggered.

Caelus vanished.

A magic circle appeared in the fog.

Death Stalker tore through the air.

The fighter tried to burn the projectile away.

The fire collided with it, but the blood from his leg gave it a path to follow.

The projectile curved around the flame and buried itself in his abdomen.

Six.

The remaining martial artist saw the body fall, and he shot toward Caelus.

Caelus moved.

The man reached the edge of the fog.

Wind slammed into the area from behind him, clearing a route.

He thought he was free.

Then Caelus emerged from the remaining mist at his side.

Their eyes met.

The martial artist swung.

Caelus slipped beneath the strike, rotated his body, and drove his sword upward.

Water Sheathe cut from waist to shoulder.

The martial artist collapsed before he could recover.

Seven.

Three remained.

Two Earth Knights and the Wind Mage.

Caelus slowed.

The mana cost was becoming significant.

Veil Mist had already lasted longer than he’d intended.

The Wind Mage understood that too.

"Keep clearing it!"

A massive current erupted.

The fog began tearing apart in every direction.

Caelus moved with it.

Rather than fighting the wind, he let the current carry the mist aside and slipped through the opening before it closed.

An Earth Knight spotted movement.

He charged, his earth-coated sword descending.

Caelus crossed blades with him.

The impact drove his feet into the ground.

The Knight struck again with enough force to crack the earth under Caelus’s boots.

Caelus turned the blade aside and stepped inside the Knight’s reach.

Water Sheathe flashed.

The Knight jerked backward, but the edge still opened his chest.

He swung blindly.

Caelus ducked.

A second strike cut across the back of the knee.

The Knight collapsed.

A magic circle formed before he could rise.

The projectile struck the blood flowing from his chest.

The Knight’s hand came up instinctively.

Too late.

The projectile entered his wound.

Eight.

The final Earth Knight attacked before Caelus could recover.

He came in hard, both hands gripping his weapon as he drove straight through the thinning mist.

Caelus moved aside.

The sword shattered a section of the ground.

Caelus retaliated with Water Sheathe.

The Knight blocked, matching him again and again.

This one was stronger.

Caelus gave ground through the forest, using the remaining fog to break the man’s line of sight.

The Knight adapted, listening instead.

He stopped.

Caelus stopped as well.

Silence stretched.

Then the Knight lunged toward a disturbance in the fog.

His sword pierced empty air.

Caelus had already stepped behind him.

The Knight turned.

Too slow.

Water Sheathe crossed his throat.

Nine.

The Wind Mage stared through the fog.

His breathing became frantic.

He was alone.

He tried to summon another gust.

Caelus appeared behind him.

The mage turned and raised his hands.

He froze.

The haze in his eyes sharpened into awareness.

His breathing hitched.

For several seconds, he simply stared at Caelus as though he were seeing him for the first time.

"Wait..."

Caelus stopped.

The mage’s eyes darted around the clearing.

The bodies. The blood. The red-stained fog. His own hands.

His expression crumpled.

"What..."

His voice trembled.

He looked down at his fingers as if they belonged to someone else.

"What did I..."

He swallowed hard.

"I-I don’t know what’s happening."

His breathing became ragged.

"The o-others..."

His gaze moved toward the corpses scattered through the mist.

"I don’t remember attacking you."

Caelus looked at him.

The man’s eyes were clearer now.

The terror looked real.

Human.

"I woke up and they were already fighting. I couldn’t stop myself."

Caelus said nothing.

The mage swallowed again.

"Please."

He lowered his hands.

"I don’t want to die."

Caelus approached.

The mage didn’t move.

His body trembled as Caelus stopped directly in front of him.

A Vespera.

Even stripped of rank, title, and everything else, the name alone carried weight. The boy kneeling before him had spent his life hearing stories about what happened when a Vespera decided someone had become an obstacle.

Now there was no family estate.

No servants.

No noble hall.

Only the corpses around them and Caelus’s sword.

The mage’s breathing became ragged.

"Please..."

Caelus reached down and seized him by the throat.

The man choked.

"I won’t repeat myself."

Caelus’s voice was deadpan.

"Stop the act."

The candidate froze.

His fingers stopped clawing at Caelus’s wrist.

The terror vanished from his face.

His pupils lost their focus.

His jaw slackened.

A strange sound bubbled from his throat.

Something wet and distorted.

"How do you know?"

The candidate slowly smiled.

A smile far too wide to be human.

The expression stretched across his face.

"Oh well."

The voice that came from him was grotesque.

"It’s already too late."

His body exploded in Caelus’s hands.