"Your time is up, Rian!" The words, filled with a chilling finality, pierced through Rian's consciousness like a bolt of lightning.
In a flurry of movement, he swiftly pivoted to face the source of the voice, his gaze fixated on the darkened sky above.
"What?!" Rian's voice trembled with a mix of shock and disbelief, his heart pounding in his chest.
He noticed that the leader of the cloaked group clasped their hands together, appearing to amass an overwhelming surge of power.
In a blink, the sky above darkened, and the wind howled with the fury of a raging storm.
Clusters of inky black clouds congregated and whirled together, spanning a distance of one kilometer.
He also noticed that the four figures facing him had shifted positions, positioning themselves behind the leader to form a circle.
In a surge of raw energy, their mana burst forth, converging and directing itself towards the group leader, who continued to chant and wield elemental arts.
"Mana transfer method?!" Rian's body froze, his gaze fixated on the four figures who stood prepared, assuming a formation specifically designed to channel their mana towards the leader.
This method carried significant risks, as it required the individuals to employ their own bodies as vessels for mana transmission.
If the elemental art being invoked indeed exceeded the user's bodily limits, the core within the elemental art practitioner's own body would forcibly draw mana from those connected to the mana channeling formation.
Furthermore, the consumed mana must be consistently and forcibly channeled to unleash the elemental art.
Nevertheless, this method presents a formidable challenge, as it necessitates individuals with matching core elements and a deep bond that enables their cores to synchronize seamlessly during the mana channeling process.
The five of them appeared to have spent considerable time together, rendering them well-acquainted with this method.
"Damn it! They intend to employ high-level elemental arts!" Rian cursed inwardly as he witnessed the relentless bursts of black lightning, forged from the element of darkness.
"Boom!"
An immense sense of danger washed over him, and his instincts warned that a single blow from this attack could prove fatal.
"I won't allow you to end my life so effortlessly!" Rian swiftly recited an acceleration spell, desperate to flee.
"The Wind Elemental Art: Unification with—"
Yet, just as he was about to make his escape, he caught sight of a swift, dark silhouette hurtling towards his feet, swiftly ensnaring his legs in an unyielding grip.
"What!" Rian exclaimed in shock, desperately attempting to recite an escape spell.
"The Wind Elemental Art: Acceleration!"
However, to his dismay, he found himself immobilized, unable to budge as if his mana had been obstructed, rendering his escape elemental art ineffective.
"What on earth?!" Rian struggled to move, but his efforts were in vain.
Witnessing this, the leader of the cloaked group erupted into maniacal laughter.
"Hahaha!"
"Rian! It's futile to resist and attempt escape, for this particular elemental art is designed to thwart any such endeavors!" They proclaimed it with pride, their gaze fixed playfully upon Rian.
Rian gritted his teeth when he heard this.
However, he still did not give up and continued to try his escape elemental arts.
Observing Rian's foolishness, the cloaked leader shook his head and said, "Your efforts are in vain, Rian!"
"Let me tell you before you die: the name of this technique is "The Darkness Elemental Art: Preventing Everything!"
*Boom!*
As the leader of the cloaked figures uttered those words, the sky ominously darkened, and the lightning intensified, pulsating with increased ferocity.
Meanwhile, the bonds constricting Rian's legs grew tighter, causing his limbs to go numb.
The leader of the cloaked figures drew a deep breath and regarded Rian with a mixture of pity and derision.
"Very well, Rian!"
"This shall be the pinnacle of your downfall!" They proclaimed it with a resounding voice, separating their clasped hands and thrusting them high into the sky.
The four cloaked figures positioned behind them intensified their mana channeling; their efforts visibly manifested as a shimmering blue shield.
It portrayed the sheer intensity with which they were striving to extract and channel their mana into the figure of the cloaked group leader.
"The Dark Elemental Art: Total Annihilation!" They bellowed with a thunderous voice.
Suddenly, from the depths of the darkened sky and swirling clouds, a vortex of darkness coalesced, giving birth to a colossal meteor that descended ominously toward Rian with a gradual yet undeniable menace.
"Boom!
A thunderous bolt of lightning resonated with immense force, synchronizing with the descent of the meteor forged from the dark element.
Simultaneously, the relentless windstorm raged on, mercilessly obliterating anything that dared to cross its path!"
Witnessing the formidable onslaught, Rian exclaimed, "Insane! This is an utterly destructive force!"
However, far from succumbing to fear, he loosened his tense muscles and chuckled, "Hahaha, yet this alone is insufficient to break me!"
With swift movements, Rian reached into his space pouch and retrieved several bottles containing healing potions and mana replenishers, firmly grasping them in his hand.
"Even in death, I shall relentlessly battle against all of you!" Rian declared resolutely, swiftly uncorking the bottles and consuming their contents in one fluid motion.
He also administered the level five healing potion, a gift from Arthur, which had been specifically formulated to neutralize the toxic poison surging through his body.
Instantaneously, his wounds regenerated, and his mana surged exponentially, akin to an ocean reaching its boiling point.
He sensed his mana spiraling out of control, coursing through his body with unbridled intensity.
His flesh seared with a blazing fervor, yet he paid it no mind.
With both hands engulfed in energy, he invoked the most formidable elemental art he had ever mastered.
"The Wind Elemental Art: Tempest of Destruction!"
Rian's voice reverberated with power as the mana within him surged wildly, swiftly coalescing into the manifestation of the elemental art.
Simultaneously, the constriction binding his body was forcefully shattered, liberating him from its grip.
"Boom!"
Abruptly, a colossal tempest materialized from the four cardinal directions, towering twenty meters high and boasting tremendous width, colliding with the ominous dark meteor from above.
The sheer intensity of the tempest was awe-inspiring, engulfing the surroundings with its unyielding force.
Dust, dirt, and a medley of debris were forcefully lifted skyward, swirling within the maelstrom's tumultuous vortex.
Rian, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath, exerted every ounce of his mana to sustain his elemental arts, straining to maintain control amidst the chaotic maelstrom.
"Boom!"
The collision of these formidable forces reverberated, resonating with a deafening roar.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Relentlessly, the opposing powers pushed against one another, locked in a fierce struggle.
Rian, driven by sheer determination, relentlessly pushed her body beyond its limits, surpassing the threshold of what her physical form could endure.
"Hoaaaaa!!!" Rian bellowed with all his might, struggling to bring his palms together.
Sweat, blood, and the subtle traces of physical strain reflected the toll taken by the overwhelming pressure.
However, his body remained far from its peak condition, and the lingering poison continued to wreak havoc within him.
Thus, despite consuming the healing potion, immediate signs of significant improvement failed to manifest.
"I refuse to surrender!" Rian declared with unwavering determination, his body gradually inching backward.
One meter, two meters, five meters, until ultimately, due to the fragility of his body, he was propelled a full kilometer away.
"Boom!"
The colossal meteor shattered the windstorm Rian had conjured, descending leisurely towards him as he rebounded.
The mana reservoir of a single wounded middle-stage elemental saint proved insufficient to overpower the combined might of the five formidable figures at the elemental saint level.
"Hahaha! Your time has come, Rian! Farewell!"
"Cough!" The cloaked figure high above the sky wiped the blood continuously trickling from their lips, a consequence of the excessive mana usage, and involuntarily coughed up more blood.
"Boom!"
Rian's body continued its rebounding trajectory until it finally collided with a sturdy rock that remained steadfast on the ground.
"Arghh!" The impact caused the rock to crack as Rian's back absorbed the brunt of the collision, sending waves of excruciating pain coursing through his body.
"Cough! Cough!"
Blood relentlessly spilled from his mouth, followed by a gushing flow from the deep gash across his back and abdomen.
His body was nearly drenched in a cloak of blood, an indelible testament to the severity of his wounds.
With great effort, he pried his eyes open, witnessing the dark meteor closing in, a mere hundred meters away from its devastating impact.
Gritting his teeth, he laboriously lifted his right arm, his lips silently forming words.
"Boom!"
The meteor collided with the precise location where Rian had been, erupting in a deafening explosion.
"Boom!"
The dark meteor descended, swirling with an unnaturally dense air pressure upon impact.
For several minutes, the dark meteor gradually dissolved into oblivion, vanishing without a trace.
The impact of the dark meteor shattered the ground, leaving behind a gaping hole that plunged fifty meters deep and stretched two hundred meters wide!
This outcome, however, was partially mitigated by the forceful collision with Rian's elemental arts.
Otherwise, the devastation might have been even more catastrophic.
The cloaked leader and the remaining four members, previously airborne, plummeted to the ground in the aftermath of the collision.
"Boom!"
As the five figures descended, the impact of their landing cracked the ground beneath them.
Indeed, the bodies of the elemental saints were formidable in their resilience!
"Cough! Cough!" Each of them coughed, blood gushing from their mouths.
However, the group leader's countenance bore no hint of sorrow.
"Hahaha! Cough!"
"Rian! You're finally dead as well! Hahaha!" The cloaked group leader cackled maniacally, convinced that the impact of their attack had annihilated Rian without a trace.
However, the intense exertion of eliminating Rian had drained their mana reserves completely, leaving them utterly depleted.
To be honest, they could have taken a simpler approach to eliminating Rian.
However, being a former assassin, Rian possessed exceptional agility and proved elusive to conventional tactics.
Had they not employed every means at their disposal, Rian might have slipped away, making it considerably more challenging to apprehend him.
Regrettably, Rian had met his demise, requiring the group to exert their full might to achieve it.
Just as the five reached their most vulnerable state, a bone-chilling roar echoed from all directions.
"Roaarrr!"
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