Chapter 201: Crushing Confrontation (1/2)

Figuring that his best bet was to follow the sounds of screams and explosions, Mike ran through the strangely deserted Tenundian encampment. Every now and then he would find himself face to face with a panicking soldier who was running from, or to something important, but even then they didn't even try to stop him.

[Weren't they supposed to retreat back here? Where is everyone?]

Deciding that solving the mystery could wait until after he'd confirmed the safety of his party members, he rushed headlong into the camp despite the obvious threat of a trap. Just in case, he pulled Audra out of his pocket and shoved her into his extradimensional sack. She squawked in protest, but he had a feeling that things were about to get dangerous.

It didn't take him long to find the source of the commotion, and he touched down next to the offending party with something along the lines of resignation.

”Lily, why are you almost naked again?” He asked, taking a moment to drop the unconscious shaman nearby. She had finally passed out after he'd started moving with greater haste.

The woman tilted her head in slight confusion while staring at him, before a look of realization passed across her features. ”Ah! You're pretty eyes. Why are you wearing a mask?”

[Couldn't you think of a better nickname?]

Mike sighed while averting his gaze. She had evidently been in a serious fight, since all that was left of her clothes were a few tattered rags. ”I'm trying to hide my identity. Anyway, hold still for a moment.”

He placed an arm on her shoulder and applied a wave of Healing Magic to treat her injuries. She had suffered a few burns and some internal damage, but otherwise appeared to be rather hale. This was slightly confusing to him, since she had nearly died in the earthquake after a simple explosion.

Looking around the battlefield and the scars that had been left behind by whatever devastating conflict she had been involved in, Mike came to the conclusion that something was amiss. ”Uh, Lily? How are you still in one piece after all this?”

She looked confused again for a second, before nodding. ”I used Giant's Skin.”

Mike waited, but that was apparently all she was willing to offer.

[Some kind of active skill that enhances defense, I'm guessing.] Deciding that he could look into it later, he used a quick application of Darkness Magic to create a form-fitting layer of cloth-like material in an effort to cover Lily's body. He was hoping to avoid having to deal with the distraction her continued nudity provided, but found that his solution only made things worse.

[Sigh...I guess I'll just use this as an opportunity to improve my willpower.]

He glanced over at the Marshal and the elven mage, who were holding their positions for the time being. Judging from their tense expressions, they were waiting on him to make the first move.

Mike felt inclined to do so.

In all honesty, he could simply call Red over, and pull back to the city. The dragon had finished destroying the Tenundian siege equipment, and was now in the middle of harrying the assault force with blasts of fire, but he could be easily redirected.

However, Mike was feeling a little angry. While the Tenundians hadn't actually succeeded in capturing one of his party members, they had nevertheless tried. That alone was unforgivable in his book.

”Well, Lily, why don't we have ourselves some revenge?” He asked while starting to channel mana into his hands, a few offensive spells on his mind.

The dark haired woman looked at him, ”Why?”

He resisted the urge to facepalm. ”Because they tried to kidnap you? Aren't you angry?”

She shrugged. ”Not really. I want to head back home and test out my new creation. I need to make sure it does what it's supposed to.”

Mike was at a loss for a second. Finally, he sighed. Her air headedness made him feel silly for being serious about this. ”Ah, whatever. Let's just head back.” He replied resignedly while reaching out to Red mentally.

”Like we'd let you. Stop them!” Kiertesan yelled to his elven companion.

Nurenal nodded and unleashed a spell he had been quietly chanting. A pinprick of light appeared next to Mike, and he only had a fraction of second to respond before it expanded into a coruscating sphere of eldritch energy. Luckily, that still gave him enough time to grab Lily, and wrap the pair of them in a mana shield.

As soon as the energy came in contact with the shield, it emitted a high-pitched whine and quickly began eating through it. Only thanks to his superhuman reflexes, was Mike able to jump away from the spell.

The two of them landed about 5m away, and watched as the sphere of crackling energy expanded rapidly for a second before disappearing entirely. Mike sagged slightly, as the drain on his mana reserves took hold. Whatever that spell was, it ate through his defenses at a staggering rate.

”I'm trusting you to take on the old guy, Lily! Give him hell.” Mike yelled while channeling a stream of fire magic into her. By the time the fiery aura took hold, he was already moving, strafing to the right while chanting his most familiar spell.

As the fireball took shape, he hurled at Nurenal, hoping to interrupt whatever follow-up attack he was attempting. However, it quickly became apparent that he had underestimated the elf.

With one hand, and a few short words, he raised a shield of arcane energy, blocking the fireball in its entirety. As the resulting dust cloud was settling, Mike was attacked by a strange sensation.

He suddenly felt like he was trying to run through molasses, the air around him thickening into a gelatin-like consistency. Movement was still possible, but difficult. He tried to raise an arm to block the next attack, but it was like watching a video in slow motion.

”You seem to be the type to rely on evasion for defense.” Nurenal commented drily while stepping out of the dust cloud, eight circles of barely contained arcane energy floating in the air around him. ”As such, sealing your movements is the tactically proscribed method of dealing with you.”

He wave an arm forward, and beams of blue-white light fired from the circles, spearing towards Mike with lethal intent.

[Well this is a bit troubling.] He had the time to think before the battlemage's assault struck home.

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