Boom!
The resounding blast echoed, and the blinding light engulfed everything. However, Sylvester had already jumped back by then and had regrouped with the rest.
Boom!
In an instant, a second blast resounded and accurately struck the Saint Scepter. These were the Solarium-Light cannons being fired from a distance, manned by some soldiers and Aurora, who had followed them.
"Stay alert!" Sylvester shouted as he unsheathed his dwarven-made sword. "Stay close! If you feel anything strange, shout it. We have to figure out his magical proficiencies."
The skyline was shimmering with light. The cannons had done their job well, uprooting everything around Saint Scepter in a wide radius—the forest, nearby villages, or the empty farmlands. It was all just a wasteland of dirt now. And the only wait was for the dust to settle to see if their cannons had any effect on Saint Scepter.
Boom!
Sylvester had brought ten cannons, so they were still nowhere near done. The moment it seemed the dust was settling, another burning beam of light was shot. Once again, the ground shook, and the earth was scorched, deepening and widening the already massive crater.
"Nobody can survive this!" Felix muttered.
Sylvester saw the gigantic mushroom cloud in the sky, soaring several kilometers high. The power of the blast was comparable to a nuke, but his heart still couldn't feel calm. To underestimate an enemy was something he was never going to do again.
Thud!
Abruptly, some noise came from the dust cloud. Sylvester and the others held their breaths, waiting to see if Saint Scepter was affected by the attack.
However, emerging from a cascade of light, Saint Scepter stood tall. His white robes flowed as if they were woven from the very essence of time, and his eyes, an intense white, pierced the gathering darkness of the dust. With every step, the ground beneath him seemed to shiver in anticipation or perhaps fear. He was unaffected, not even by the dust.
"Such magnificent weapons you've created, Sylvester Maximilian. I'm convinced we're not men of the same eras." Saint Scepter said in a proud yet mocking tone. "Any Grand Wizard would have fallen to this—but you knew this wouldn't be enough."
Sylvester's golden eyes glinted with defiance as he took a stance beside Felix, whose dark blade gleamed menacingly. To their side, the Inquisitor High Lord adjusted his red armor, crimson light reflecting from the eyes behind the visor. Meanwhile, Soulbreaker looked on, an enigmatic expression crossing his visage.
"I know, but there is no harm in trying," Sylvester replied and waited for the attack from Saint Scepter. He, in no case, wanted to go near the man physically as it would mean instant death.
With a devious smirk, Saint Scepter raised his staff, its lower blade catching fire. A gust of wind swept around, pulling up the roots of obliterated trees and sending them flying like mere twigs. The distant mountains trembled, their peaks starting to crumble, boulders cascading down.
Saint Scepter's body lifted into the air, hovering after gaining a bit of altitude. The man then waved his hands and played with his enemies as if they were toys. A single swing of his staff sent unimaginable destruction toward Sylvester and the rest.
The earth rumbled, and a deep dark ravine appeared out of nowhere. It extended toward Sylvester and continued to widen. Its depth was unknown, but soon enough, water gushed out of them, rising like fountains.
'He's not even using magic—this was just a simple wave of his arm.' Sylvester felt a sense of hopelessness creeping over him, yet he tried to hold on as the main powerhouse was yet to appear.
Seeing so much water coming out, Sylvester decided to go with the combined move they had prepared. He used water elemental magic and tried to form torrents of water to encircle Saint Scepter. As the water spiraled, Inquisitor High Lord used his blazing fire magic and ignited the torrents, turning them into massive walls of steam, obscuring Saint Scepter's vision.
Having prepared for that beforehand, Felix charged. His long dark sword aimed for Saint Scepter. Being a Platinum Knight, only he and Sylvester held enough strength to physically injure the man.
Woosh!
"Aaaaa!" Felix roared as his sword slashed through the air.
However, on the ground, Sylvester and the rest watched in confusion as Felix attacked nothing but air. Saint Scepter was somewhere else altogether, still hovering in the air and watching them.
"Mind magic!" Sylvester announced. "He's toying with Felix's mind."
"He's attacking me!" Soulbreaker suddenly jumped back and exclaimed, also fighting the air.
Sylvester frowned, noticing that Saint Scepter was trying to isolate them individually. "It's all an illusion! Don't trust what you see!"
Sylvester shouted, but his words fell on deaf ears. Felix and Soulbreaker remained busy fighting the illusions in their minds. The battle had only begun, and they were on the losing end.
With no other choice, Sylvester decided to go all out, albeit feeling the absence of his spear lost in Beastaria. "Lord Inquisitor, do you see any black clouds in the distance?"
Lord Inquisitor glanced around and noticed something in the north, "There is one coming towards us."
'It should be him—Only he can execute a surprise attack.' Sylvester ran his mind through various scenarios. All he needed to do was ensure that Saint Scepter was fully distracted. 'He still doesn't have the key. He won't kill me just yet.'
"Cover me," Sylvester told the Inquisitor High Lord and made Light Tiles to walk in the air, to be on the same level as Saint Scepter. His strongest attacks were Wrath of Heaven, Piercing Hell, and Blood Bullet. However, he didn't have the spear for the second one, and for the third one, he had to control the metal in Saint Scepter's body. As he hadn't reached such mastery, it was impossible to harm those of higher rank than himself.
'I can't do much right now.' Sylvester sighed and went with the Wrath of Heavens, but this time with the addition of Elder Magic. And for the first time, even for the hymn, he decided to use Elder Magic.
'Ten seconds.' Sylvester noticed the cloud's distance and speed, making calculations. 'I'll try to get closer.'
"Miraj, at my signal, throw out all the dirt in your stomach on him." Sylvester softly whispered and raised both his palms toward Saint Scepter.
"Mual Ostonis ab iklonis…" Sylvester sang an old hymn in Elder Language. Soon enough, a halo appeared behind his head, revealing that it was working. But the halo was immense this time, its radius exceeding Sylvester's body. As he stood in the air, the halo expanded until its edges touched the ground.
And with the backdrop of the blinding light from the halo, Sylvester appeared like a single black speck, still uttering the unknown language.
"...Paliosis ujaka ni mor yolus!"
First, faint sparks erupted from Sylvester's palms. He decided to pour out all he had in his body into that one strike. Knowing Saint Scepter's overconfidence had formed over the centuries of unopposed might, the man wasn't going to dodge it.
Followed by the sparks, dense, white plasma formed on his palms, like a hovering orb. For the first time, Sylvester was seeing his magic work so slowly. But it made him wonder if he had just never noticed the orb before because it was too small.
BOOM!
Silence fell for a little—Sylvester was pushed back from the recoil as if he was hit by the same beam. But the plasma of light traveled toward the Saint Scepter while making a sizzling noise, breaking the sound barriers.
Despite falling, Sylvester tried to keep up with the hymn and his attack, fine-tuning the trajectory to ensure it hit the man. The steam from their actions before had already cleared away.
But Saint Scepter's mind games never ended. Before the beam of light could hit him, Saint Scepter made Felix appear in the path, luring him with whatever visions he was showing him through the mind magic.
"Proceed—I will move him, do not concede!" Inquisitor High Lord roared and tapped his staff on the scorched ground.
Instantly, flames surged from his boots, and he was launched into the air at an incredible speed. In the nick of time, he tackled Felix and dragged him away. But just as he did so, Felix inadvertently wounded the side of Lord Inquisitor's arm.
Sylvester was only focused on Saint Scepter. "Take this!"
He desperately and knowingly shouted those words to ensure Saint Scepter didn't move. Pride is something always in abundance in anyone who considers themselves at the peak. So he tried to take advantage of that.
And at last, it connected.
Woosh!
The wide beam of light, containing everything Sylvester had in a single move, hit Saint Scepter. At first, the Supreme Wizard merely used his staff to stop it, but when the unbelievable force came, and his arm was easily pushed, he got serious.
The impact propelled both Sylvester and Saint Scepter apart. While Sylvester struggled to keep going, using every ounce of solarium in his body, Saint Scepter found himself in disbelief that a Grand Wizard could do such damage.
"Now!" Sylvester roared.
"Waaaa…" Miraj was already hovering above Saint Scepter. He opened his jaws and let out all the dirt he had eaten over the years on many occasions for tactical and fighting reasons.
As Saint Scepter was busy pushing against Sylvester's Wrath of Heavens, the mud blinded him. It only lasted a second, but that was all Sylvester hoped for.
Saint Scepter gritted his bare skeletal jaw and finally halted his backward momentum against the beam. "Elder Magic? I should have destroyed that temple years ago…"
The beam of magic hadn't harmed him too deeply, so he ignored the melting skin on his hands. Saint Scepter merely smiled and began to force the beam of light to compress into his palm. And to Sylvester's dismay, the man was succeeding as he continued to push against the beam while redirecting it to one point into his palm.
"The difference in our power is unimaginable, Sylvester—Give me the key, and you can go away, be free." Saint Scepter offered Sylvester once again. But this time, he didn't sound as proud or certain.
'Uncertainty?' Sylvester smiled inwardly, smelling the feelings very strongly.
"Saint Scepter!" Sylvester shouted, smiling from a distance. He panted uncontrollably and continued to emit the beam from his palm. "The real battle begins now!"
"Indeed!" A new voice echoed
Saint Scepter turned his face to look behind.
Bam!—Before he could even take a glimpse, a quick flash passed by. The next thing he knew, he felt pain in his chest, originating from his back. He looked down quickly, and there it was—a spear made of unknown bones.
"Emperor of the undead, Raz Mi'ul Naseer—greets you, heathen!"
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