Kyran, who appeared behind Osric, also sent out a punch.
BAM!
BOOM!
Kyran's left fist landed squarely on Osric's head at the exact moment that Neo's hammer slammed into the ground.
"GUAH!"
"AAAARGH!"
Osric, who failed to react in time, was hit by Kyran's punch and was thrown several meters away. He hit several trees in succession before bouncing and skidding on the ground to a stop.
Meanwhile, the ground where Neo's hammer landed caved in from its weight, and several enemy mages who refused to leave their position in the array formation were squashed into a pulp.
Those mages who moved out of the way paled after seeing a river of blood seep out from under the hammer.
Kyran did not simply watch Osric getting thrown away, he took another step and appeared at a position where Osric was about to pass. Kyran did a tornado roundhouse kick and sent Osric flying backwards.
"GAH!" Osric spat out another mouthful of blood as he got blasted off in the opposite direction.
Once again, he hit several trees in succession. This time, he tried summoning his magic staff's sentient while regaining his balance. However, no matter what he did, the sea serpent would not respond.
Before Osric could find a chance to pierce his magic staff to the ground and break his momentum, he caught sight of Kyran appearing again at the spot he was about to crash into.
"Ngh....!" Osric gritted his teeth and summoned a wall made of water between him and Kyran.
But.
Kyran stomped his feet, and the water that started to form dissipated in the air.
Osric's eyes widened after witnessing Kyran's action.
Although it was a simple movement, Osric sensed Kyran's stomp carried a powerful force. Not only that, the kind of force that Kyran unleashed was a little different from that of the Void.
In the split second that Osric got distracted from the stomp, Kyran had already moved. He disappeared and reappeared right before Osric, who had yet to break his momentum after getting kicked.
The two black obsidian swords appeared in Kyran's hand once more. He raised his arms and slashed downward, aiming to slice Osric's neck.
Osric's eyes widened further. It was as if time had slowed down as he watched the blades of the swords come down his neck.
The truth was Osric could still turn into water and avoid Kyran's attack. Unfortunately, the latter would not give him a chance to transform.
Kyran's attack was too fast, and Osric could barely react in time. He could not even rouse his magic properly.
For the first time after waking up from his slumber, Osric felt true fear.
Nevertheless, he was not going to give up!
"AAAAAAAARRRRGH!"
Osric let out a coarse scream as his magic pressure erupted.
Kyran's brow furrowed as he felt his speed getting affected by Osric's magic pressure.
In that split-second difference, Osric finally managed to turn himself into water and without even feeling embarrassed about it, he seeped into the ground below.
Seeing this, Kyran's expression remained unchanged. He watched Osric turn into water and escape into the ground.
But would Kyran let Osric escape?
At the moment, Kyran's state of mind was calm. Though he was under pressure, he managed to retain this state even after dealing with the initial predicament that the Conclave had fallen into.
When Osric seeped into the ground, Kyran whirled the two swords in his hand and reversed his grip. He landed on the ground and raised his hand before piercing the ground with the swords.
His eyes flashed as his magic sense erupted and filled the ground below.
Now that Osric and the enemy mages were no longer releasing their magic pressure, Kyran could use his magic sense without obstruction.
But instead of using the combined Draconic and Void magic as the base for his magic sense, he only used the Void.
Because Kyran did not want to waste too much of his magic energy, he used his magic sense to deal with Osric's water form instead of summoning a huge void sphere.
He mobilized the magic energies in the surroundings using his magic sense and covered the earth below.
With the help of the magic energies in the surroundings, it did not take long for Kyran to locate Osric. The latter was still in his water form and was traversing the ground, looking for a suitable location to come out again.
Using his magic sense, Kyran created an array formation with Osric at the center.
'This is impossible,' Osric thought as he traversed the earth.
He knew Kyran possessed a powerful body and that if he activated the infamous Regis Blessing, his five senses would receive a huge boost. However, the strengthening the latter received did not make sense to Osric.
In the first place, when Kyran would suddenly appear before him, Osric felt that he was only using his 'speed.' How could Kyran's speed be similar to when he warped? Apart from that, his punches were too powerful.
Osric was wearing not only an enchanted coat but also leather armor. He also took pills to enhance his physical, mental and magical defenses, and the support mages with them had cast supportive spells that boosted their defenses. However, despite all of these enhancements, he still suffered internal injuries!
While Osric was reeling over Kyran's unbelievable strength, he suddenly sensed an incoming danger.
'No—!" Osric exclaimed as realization dawned on him. 'Now that no magic pressure is disrupting him, he can use his magic sense again!'
Osric gritted his teeth and roused his magic. Though somewhat disgruntled, he would not let Kyran get the best of him. He was a Legendary mage! Apart from this, he had survived the Chaos Era! How could he let a newbie push him around?
Osric was just about to emerge on the ground and counter Kyran's magic sense with his own when he realized he could not rouse his magic!
'W-What is happening?'
Thinking that he did not have enough magic energy after transforming into water, Osric tried to absorb the surrounding magic energies and rouse his magic again.
However, not matter what he did, he still could not rouse his magic.
No.
To be accurate, he could not even sense magic energy in his body, or in the surroundings.
What was going on?
'Since you love that form so much, you can stay that way for now.'
Osric's heart sank as he heard Kyran's voice in his head. Obviously, the latter had just spoken to him telepathically.
Normally, it would not be possible for others to talk to Osric in water form. However, Kyran still managed it. But that was unimportant. What was important was the latter's words.
Love this form? Stay this way for now?
Osric's turned could as soon as he realized what Kyran had meant.
That was right.
The array Kyran created had several confinement formulas. Basically, it could imprison anything or anyone inside the array.
If Osric were in his human form, Kyran would have trouble confining him in the array. After all, Osric would never stay in one place. Besides, he definitely had the means to counter such moves.
However, Osric's magic and ability were limited while in water form, and Kyran took advantage of this to confine him.
At least for now. Because it was impossible to detain a high-levelled mage for long, at most, Kyran could keep Osric there for three hours. Of course, if he reinforced the array every two to three hours, he could detain him there for more than three hours.
'YOU— I'LL KILL YOU!'
Osric sent out his cursing telepathically at Kyran.
Kyran was amused after hearing Osric's response. In the end, he ignored him. After all, his threats were useless when he was trapped underground and in water form.
'LET ME OUT HERE RIGHT NOW! I WILL SKIN YOU ALIVE! IT DOESN'T MATTER IF HER HIGHNESS WANTS YOU! I WILL KILL YOU!'
Osric continued to curse Kyran.
Unfortunately, after hearing his first cursing, Kyran took this chance to leave and returned to Neo's location.
There was still another person he had to deal with, after all.
Gael.
Just thinking about Gael made Kyran frown.
Frankly, he did not expect that the one who would give him trouble would be Gael.
In the first place, Gael was only a Magus. However, Kyran knew that the latter's advantage was his magic.
Shadow magic was not that impressive, in Kyran's opinion. But Gael managed to develop it in a different direction that Kyran, who possessed vast knowledge of magic after learning so many things in the Tower of Tribulation, could not understand.
For now, Kyran decided to find Gael and take him alive. He had to study his magic and see how he could counter such.
Right now, Gael was only a Magus. If he advanced, he would be even more powerful and might even pose a threat to Kyran— not to mention the others.
That was something Kyran would never allow.
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