Chapter 56: Friendly Fire Is Still Fire (Magic Castle Bonus)

Chapter 56. Friendly Fire Is Still Fire (Magic Castle Bonus)

I reappeared above him.

[Eclipse Light Manipulation]

Three blades descended.

Garr rolled away.

Two struck the soil.

The third opened a shallow cut across his cheek.

He stared at the blood on his fingers.

Then at me.

I smiled sweetly. "You’re getting messy."

He screamed.

A very impressive scream.

I’d give it an A for enthusiasm.

"ELIA!" Darius roared. "Buff us!"

The Saintess.

The one person who could turn three already troublesome SSS-rank heroes into an even bigger headache.

Elia stood near the edge of the clearing, her white gown stained with flecks of blood and dirt. Her hands hovered uncertainly before her chest. She looked from Darius to Garr, then to me.

Conflicted.

How touching.

Darius slammed his sword against an approaching blade of Eclipse Light. "NOW!"

Elia flinched.

Then raised her hand.

Golden light gathered around her fingers, warm and brilliant, forming four concentric rings of holy runes.

I recognized that spell.

Rey had fought beside her long enough to know exactly how it worked.

And more importantly... Exactly when it activated.

I vanished.

Then reappeared directly in front of her.

"Elia..."

I softened my expression.

Just a little.

The same quiet look Rey used to give her whenever she was frightened during their journeys. The look that promised he’d already considered the danger and would find a way through it.

Her eyes widened. "Rey...?"

For one heartbeat, she forgot about the battle.

Unfortunately for her, I didn’t.

I caught her glowing wrist and guided her raised hand toward my chest.

The holy rings collapsed inward.

Light poured into me.

[Defend +150%]

[MATK +150%]

[ATK +150%]

[Speed +150%]

Oh, that felt good.

Power surged through my limbs. The ache in my arms faded beneath a protective layer of holy mana, and the world seemed to slow as my enhanced senses adjusted.

My smile widened into something considerably less reassuring. "Thank you."

She stared at me. "You—"

I released her wrist and stepped back.

"REY!" Darius bellowed.

I glanced over my shoulder.

He looked furious.

Again.

At this point, I was beginning to worry about his blood pressure.

Garr swore.

And Raven disappeared.

[Abyssal Eye]

His mana signature slipped across the edge of my vision.

He wasn’t approaching from the front.

Or behind.

He was circling through the shadows, moving toward the darkness cast by my body.

That technique.

I remembered it.

A binding assassination spell that anchored its victim through their shadow.

Quite clever, actually.

Especially against magicians who relied on movement to survive.

Raven emerged beside a broken tree, his poisoned dagger angled downward.

He lunged.

At my shadow.

His blade descended.

[Void Shift]

The world folded around me.

Raven’s dagger struck the ground.

A dark formation snapped open beneath it, its runes spreading outward like the jaws of a trap.

Unfortunately... I was no longer standing there.

Elia was.

The binding seized her shadow.

Black bands of mana shot upward and locked around her ankles. "Ah!"

She stumbled, nearly falling.

Raven froze. "Elia?!"

I reappeared several paces away, safely outside the formation.

Darius turned. His expression changed the instant he saw her trapped. "ELIA!"

He abandoned his position and charged straight toward her, holy sword blazing.

Raven yanked his dagger free and sprang backward before Darius could reach him. "Darius, wait! I wasn’t—"

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

A golden slash tore through the space between them.

Raven barely dodged.

The attack struck a tree behind him, splitting its trunk with a thunderous crack.

Elia remained trapped in the binding, staring at the two men in disbelief.

I watched from a comfortable distance.

How beautiful.

Teamwork truly was a wonderful thing.

Unfortunately, I still had one problem.

Garr.

The man stood in the middle of the ruined clearing, gripping his enormous sword with both hands. His face had turned an impressive shade of red, and the veins along his neck bulged as he gathered mana.

That stance.

I’d seen him use it countless times during the war.

His ultimate skill.

Well, this was getting expensive.

"REY VALEN!" His roar shook the leaves overhead. "DIE!"

Golden-red mana erupted from his sword, spreading along the blade until it became an enormous, blazing extension of the weapon.

The air distorted.

The ground cracked beneath his boots.

Garr raised his sword above his head.

And I realized something rather important.

He was actually going to use it.

Here.

Inside a hunting ground less than a kilometer across.

With his own companions standing behind me.

Garr, you magnificent idiot.

During the war, Garr’s ultimate skill had been devastating.

It could split a fortified wall, carve through an army, or severely injure monsters that ordinary adventurers couldn’t even scratch.

There was just one small inconvenience.

The attack required an enormous amount of mana and a rather obvious preparation.

Which meant its target usually had plenty of time to move.

That was why Rey or Elia had always restrained the enemy first.

Rey would bind it with magic.

Elia would immobilize it with holy chains.

Then Garr would deliver the finishing blow.

A simple arrangement.

Garr apparently hadn’t considered that detail.

How unfortunate.

For him.

"COME ON!" he bellowed.

His sword descended.

[Voidwind Manipulation]

Wind exploded beneath my boots.

I accelerated sideways, my body becoming a blur as the first wave of pressure tore through the space I’d occupied.

The attack followed the line of his swing.

Straight ahead.

Straight toward....

Darius.

Raven.

Elia.

All three were still near the shattered tree, with Elia caught in Raven’s binding formation and Darius standing protectively beside her.

Raven turned first. His eyes widened. "GARR, STOP!"

Too late.

Garr’s sword struck the ground.

-BOOOOOOM!

The clearing vanished beneath a wall of golden-red energy.

The earth buckled.

Trees snapped like dry twigs.

A violent shock wave ripped through the forest, carrying shattered branches, stones, and fragments of armor in every direction.

I was already moving.

Another burst of wind hurled me toward the edge of the clearing.

Still not far enough.

[Abyssal Reinforcement]

Forbidden Energy flooded my muscles and hardened my body just as the shock wave caught me.

The impact slammed into my back.

"Ghk—!"

I crossed my arms and twisted in midair.

A broken tree trunk hurtled past my head.

A stone struck my reinforced shoulder and shattered.

My boots touched the ground.

Then slid.

Ten meters.

Fifteen.

I drove one hand into the soil, carving a long furrow before finally stopping.

Dust rolled over me.

For several seconds, I could hear nothing but the ringing in my ears.

I coughed.

Then looked down at my cloak.

Torn.

I was going to send Garr the tailoring bill.

The dust slowly cleared.

Or rather, what remained of the clearing became visible.

A deep trench stretched from Garr’s position toward the opposite end of the hunting ground.

Trees lay scattered across it.

The grass was gone.

Several enormous rocks had been reduced to rubble.

And somewhere beneath the debris, Darius stood with his holy sword planted in the ground, a cracked golden barrier flickering around him and Elia.

His armor was scorched.

Blood ran from his forehead.

Elia knelt behind him, her white gown torn and stained with dirt.

Raven had escaped the center of the attack, but not its full force. He crouched beside a fallen tree, one arm hanging awkwardly as blood dripped from his sleeve.

And Garr?

Garr stood at the opposite end of the trench.

Breathing heavily.

Staring.

Apparently realizing, for the first time, that his ultimate skill did not distinguish between enemies and people he happened to like.

I slowly straightened.

Then brushed the dust from my shoulder.

"Well." I panted. My voice sounded strangely loud in the ruined forest. "Garr, remind me. Which one of us was supposed to have lost his mind?"

Darius lifted his head. His expression promised murder.

Garr opened his mouth.

Closed it.

Then looked toward Elia.

Now he was concerned.

I chuckled.

A sudden pulse interrupted me.

My bracelet glowed.

Not the faint light it had emitted whenever a monster died.

This was brighter.

Urgent.

A warning rune flashed across its surface.

The royal spectators had been watching the hunt.

A massive SSS-rank attack inside an enclosed hunting ground?

An entire section of forest flattened?

Even the most optimistic observer would probably conclude that something had gone slightly wrong.

The bracelet pulsed again.

A teleportation formation unfolded beneath my feet.

I glanced toward Garr.

Then Darius.

Then Raven.

Finally, Elia.

All four bracelets were glowing.

The ruined clearing disappeared.

And a heartbeat later, we were transported back to the entrance.