Chapter 116: The Severance

Chapter 116: Chapter 116: The Severance

The roar of the two mutated drakes shook the entire city block.

ROOOAAARRR!

They were already massive before, but now they looked like walking nightmares. Swollen black veins pulsed beneath their scales, glowing with a greasy violet light.

Their muscles twitched and bulged unnaturally, forced to hold mana their bodies were never designed to carry.

The air felt thick as oil. Just breathing near them felt like swallowing crushed glass.

The dark elf riding the lead drake looked down at the strike team, a cruel smirk playing on his gray lips.

"Ghra’kresh hal-poro," the elf said something in clear, mocking tones.

"Drink the serum. Now," Aria’s voice cracked over the comms.

Nobody hesitated. Ten hands moved at the exact same second, pulling blue glass vials from tactical vests.

Felix popped the cork with his thumb. He glanced at Seraphina on his right, then at Liora on his left. "Ready?"

Seraphina gave a curt, ice-cold nod.

Liora tightened her grip on her daggers, pale pink eyes locked forward. "Ready."

Felix threw his head back and downed the blue liquid in one gulp.

It tasted freezing cold, like liquid mint and battery acid. For a split second, nothing happened, then his mana flared.

FWOOOM!

A soft, sapphire-blue light wove directly into his bright green aura, shifting his magic into a rich turquoise hue.

Felix flexed his fingers. "The serum is active."

All around him, the rest of the team underwent the same change.

Aria’s frost mana took on a sharp blue sheen. Darius’s rock armor gained glowing blue veins. Kael’s raging orange flames were lined with cobalt. Orion’s lightning turned dark indigo. Liora’s pitch-black shadows sparked with blue embers, and Seraphina’s floating water blades shifted into deep, gleaming sapphire.

Seraphina looked down at her hands, flexing her pale fingers. "My mana... it feels lighter. Sharper."

"Don’t get cocky," Felix warned, keeping his eyes glued to the two roaring drakes. "The serum doesn’t increase our raw power. It just lets our mana tell their real energy apart from the fake drug so we can cut the booster out."

"Then let’s cut it out," Aria commanded, raising her silver spear.

The two SS-rank drakes lunged at the exact same moment, their heavy claws shattering the street beneath them into dust.

CRASH!

"Split up!" Aria yelled. "Two teams!"

The squad broke into two units. Aria, Darius, Kael, Lena, Ryan, Mira, and Orion broke left to intercept the second drake, while Felix planted his boots right in the path of the lead beast.

Felix looked at the titanic drake barreling down the road toward him, then up at the smiling dark elf perched on its saddle.

"Sera," Felix called out.

SWISH.

She appeared at his shoulder, her water blades humming. "Right here."

"Lio."

FWIP.

Liora melted out of the shadows at his side, but the moment she materialized, she froze. Her eyes went wide, glowing with a sudden, breathless spark of disbelief.

Felix glanced over at her, his brow furrowing slightly. "What happened? You alright?"

"N-nothing," she stammered, a frantic flush spreading across her cheeks as a giddy smile broke across her face. "Just... you called me Lio. You’ve never called me that before. I’m just really happy."

"It’s shorter. Easier to shout during combat coordination," Felix said, already shifting his weight forward.

"Call me that from now on," she demanded instantly, her fingers flexing around her daggers with manic delight. "Always. I really, really like it."

With the ground shaking under the drake’s thunderous approach, Felix didn’t have time to argue. "Done. Deal." He locked his gaze forward. "We’re taking this one down."

"What about the rest of the squad?" Liora asked, finally snapping her attention back to the battlefield.

"They’re buying us time," Felix said.

Across the shattered boulevard, Aria’s voice barked over the comms: "Hold the line! Don’t try to kill it yet, just lock it down!"

The second drake slammed its massive front claws into the road.

BOOM!

A shockwave of violet fire ripped down the avenue. Ryan threw himself forward, slamming his heavy tower shield into the dirt.

"Get behind me!" Ryan bellowed.

CRUNCH!

The flame blast hit his shield dead-on, grinding his boots half a meter into the asphalt. Behind him, Kael let loose a wave of blue-tipped fire, Lena sliced the air with razor-sharp wind scythes, Orion flickered like blue lightning, and Mira folded pockets of space to swallow incoming spikes of rubble. The whole left side of the street turned into an arena of fire and thunder.

Felix didn’t look back. His full attention locked onto the beast charging his way. The dark elf leaned over its head, grinning down at them like they were bugs.

Felix rolled his shoulders, his boots sinking into the cracked road.

He threw both arms wide.

WHOOOOOOM!

A massive dome of healing mana detonated from his chest, expanding outward until it covered a thirty-meter radius around the intersection.

"This...how?" Seraphina asked, feeling the cool, refreshing current wash over her skin.

"That’s my active ceiling right now," Felix said, a wild smirk touching his lips. "As long as you stay inside this green circle, don’t worry about dodging. Don’t worry about getting cut. I’ll stitch you back together before your blood even hits the ground."

Seraphina’s lips curved into a rare, dangerous smile. "Then I won’t hold back."

"Me neither," Liora whispered, her pink eyes glowing with dark excitement.

The mutated drake lunged forward with jaws wide enough to swallow a truck.

"Let’s move!" Felix shouted.

The beast brought its massive, bone-spiked claw crashing down like a falling building.

Felix didn’t dodge. He sprinted straight into the strike zone.

BOOOOOM!

Twin blades of hyper-compressed emerald-blue mana formed over his forearms. He crossed his arms overhead, catching the monster’s claw dead-on. The impact cratered the road beneath his boots, blowing away all the rubble for twenty yards.

Blood sprayed from Felix’s mouth as his ribs cracked under the terrifying weight.

SQUELCH.

Before the pain could even register, his healing field flared. The cracked ribs snapped back into place, the torn muscles knit together, and the bleeding stopped in less than a second.

Felix bared his bloody teeth.

Thousands of razor-thin sapphire water blades formed in the sky behind her. With a flick of her hand, they rained down like a blue monsoon.

SHRED-SHRED-SHRED!

Carving deep gouges into the drake’s thick scales.

CRACKLE-BOOM!

Arcs of lightning leaped from the water, electrocuting the open wounds. The drake screeched, its massive head thrashing.

Liora vanished into the shadows, reappearing high above the monster’s neck.

A massive lance of solid darkness, laced with blue severance motes, formed in her hands. She drove it straight down into the creature’s spine.

THUMP-CRACK!

The dark elf reacted with terrifying speed. He unbuckled from the saddle and backflipped off the beast’s back just before the spear hit.

The elf hissed mid-air.

He flicked his wrist, sending a crescent blade of mana flying straight at Liora. She twisted her body, but the blade was too fast, it slashed clean through her side, splashing crimson across the air.

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