Since Gael's domain could offset his Void magic's nothingness nature, Kyran decided to use Draconic magic instead.
After all, Draconic magic does the job far better than Void magic when talking about forcefully destroying something.
Imman's scalp turned numb after seeing Kyran's punch that seemed to hit 'air' but still managed to destroy the ground beneath. Such power was simply impossible.
Usually, people who could produce such destructive strength had large frames and bulging arms that looked as firm as steel. But even they had to land their fist on a solid object before releasing a destructive force.
However, Kyran— though he was not precisely skinny — his body was nothing like those people.
A good example was Sigma from the Blacksmith Order. With his large frame, if he stood beside Kyran, the latter would appear small. Nevertheless, the power Kyran's skinny-looking arms produced was packed with destructive force, which was logically impossible.
The pupil in Imman's eyes constricted as he recalled a rumor about the Regis Clan.
"Could that destructive power be the rumored Regis Blessing?"
Like Gael, Imman's lack of knowledge resulted in a half-assed conjecture. It was no wonder Euan described them as two people created from the same mold. They think and act alike at times.
Looking at Kyran's domineering figure, another person seemed to overlap with him in Imman's mind. However, he could not remember where he had seen that person before.
While Gael and Imman were stunned by Kyran's shocking display, the latter launched a follow-up attack. A Void Knife appeared on his left hand as he disappeared and reappeared behind Gael, who had just materialized a few meters away.
Gael managed to snap out of his shocked state before Kyran's knife swept at his neck, and he turned into a cloud of smoke once again.
In the background, the purple disc that emitted light above continued to warp the soldiers to Misty Forest. But Gael's domain was also working double time to devour the others.
The more soldiers that sank into Gael's domain, the more he felt his strength was increasing. But that did not stop him from running away from Kyran. After witnessing how the latter's punch could destroy his domain without even landing a solid hit, Gael knew that his cloak's ability might not be effective against it as well.
Imman also snapped out of his reverie as he heard more soldiers agonized screaming. He roused his magic and summoned several stone golems that instantly surrounded Kyran.
When Kyran saw the stone golems, he ignored them because the purple spheres he released earlier already flew toward them and destroyed them one after another.
On the other hand, Kyran was starting to get annoyed at Gael's cloak. Unfortunately, he had yet to find a way to counter it. He tried using the mist form of his Void magic earlier but had a feeling it would not work.
His Void magic's mist form worked against Deception when she used a similar ability to avoid him landing a physical attack. But Kyran remembered Gael's cloak materialized from the black shadow— the latter's domain. Since that domain could reinforce the defences of Gael's Shadow puppets, then there was a possibility its black smoke form could also do the same.
Although the Void mist failed to mix with the black smoke earlier due to a sudden gust of wind, the wind might not be coincidental.
To find the answer to this, Kyran summoned new purple spheres and scattered them.
Seeing the purple spheres appearing at Gael's location, another gust of wind blew past and immediately pushed the spheres away.
As Kyran expected, the gust of wind earlier was not coincidental. It might be another ability of Gael's armor.
Unfortunately, Kyran did not have the leisure to study it. He could only continue with his plan— find an opportunity to use Draconic magic on Gael.
The purple spheres erupted and turned into purple mists covering a wide area. The mist affected the soldiers that had not yet been warped by the purple disc's light or sank into Gael's domain. As the mist touched them, its seemingly corrosive-effect, started to disintegrate the soldiers' clothes, hair, and skin.
"AAAHHHH!"
"S-SAVE US!"
"D-Deputy Imman! P-Please, help us!"
Cries for help filled the air.
Imman's eyes turned bloodshot and his magic energy erupted. The magic fluctuation around him intensified as he summoned several magic arrays that hovered above several soldiers. After which, he spat out a mouthful of blood because of overexerting his capacity.
Imman was only an Exalted, yet he forcefully summoned more than fifty magic arrays with a radius of one and a half meters. It was practically suicide. Nevertheless, he endured the excruciating pain from inside his body to maintain the magic arrays. Then he summoned smaller stone golems to shield the soldiers while also pulling them out of the black shadow.
"Stay your hand, Imman!" Gael growled the moment he saw what Imman was doing.
The gust of wind blew fiercely around him— while he was still in the cloud of black smoke— before flying toward Imman.
Confused at Gael's order, Imman looked at him and said, "Why? We have to save them!"
"Idiot."
The one who had spoken was not Gael but Kyran. Though the latter only said it in passing, using a very low voice, Imman heard it loud and clear.
"What did you say?" Imman demanded glaringly.
Kyran ignored him. As more purple spheres appeared, as soon as his reddish-purple eyes flashed, they would explode, resulting in the increase of mist around them.
However, apart from the soldiers and Imman's stone golems, the purple mist failed to affect the cloud of black smoke.
When Gael finally reached Imman, using the fierce wind as a barrier, the former materialized and summoned a couple of Shadow puppets to restrain the latter.
"What are you doing?" Imman demanded, caught off guard by Gael's action.
"Be quiet and stay put!"
Gael growled and the Shadow puppets immediately dragged Imman into the black shadow.
"You—!"
Before Imman could utter his protest, he was already pulled into Gael's domain.
However, Gael did not devour Imman. As much as he disliked the latter, he could not touch him yet. The Crown Princess still had a use for him. Thus, Gael could only keep Imman in an isolated space in his domain.
BAM!
"Guah—!" Gael's eyes almost popped out of their sockets as he felt something solid hit him from the back. He coughed out a mouthful of blood and was thrown several meters forward before colliding with a small building in the plaza.
The attack obviously came from Kyran. The silver slits on his reddish-purple eyes flashed as he took a step forward.
Dragon Step!
In an instant, he was already in front of Gael. His right leg was raised and with a swift and powerful movement, he delivered a dropkick, hitting Gael's head.
Before Kyran's feet landed, Gael turned into a cloud of black smoke.
Boom!
Kyran's feet hit the ground, instantly turning it into a large crater. Then the shockwave that came after the destruction blew away the cloud of black smoke.
This time, Gael actually felt the might of the shockwave. He was forced to materialize, coughing another mouthful of blood. After which, he fell and rolled on the ground before hitting a wall.
But Kyran had just started. With an indifferent expression, he turned and took another step, appearing before Gael again.
Gael's mind reeled in fear as Kyran appeared before him.
It was impossible!
How did Kyran force him out of the cloak's ability?
Not only that. Earlier, when he took Imman into his domain, it only took a few seconds— or to be more accurate, he only materialized for at least three seconds. How did Kyran appear behind him and land a powerful punch on his back?
Yes, Kyran could warp. But the wind protecting Gael could detect magic fluctuations, which in turn would automatically trigger his cloak's ability. It was impossible for anyone— not even Kyran who could warp— to sneak an attack on him.
Such was the ability of Gael's cloak. It was also one of the reasons he was not afraid of combat mages. He admitted he was shocked by the power of Kyran's punch but he believed his cloak could handle it.
However, not only did his cloak fail to notice Kyran's appearance, but it also failed to activate.
Could it be that the reason the wind did not detect any magic fluctuation was that Kyran did not warp but simply used his own speed? Was it because of the Regis Blessing? The one rumored to allow the Regis to possess the strength of a dragon?
Just the thought sent shivers up Gael's spine.
The power of a dragon was something out of a myth— a legend.
Nevertheless, no matter how much Gael tried to reason to himself that it was impossible, the things he had witnessed told him otherwise.
Apart from this, Gael's cloak already activated its ability, yet Kyran's kick— which did not even hit— actually forced him to materialize!
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