Desolate Mage: A Legend Reborn!

"s.h.i.+T!!! I-I DON"T WANT TO DIE!!!"

Snake Spear King l.u.s.t screamed in her adolescent voice filled with regrets.

How could it end this way...?

Was it supposed to be like this...?

Just a poor orphan girl, forced into a life of either prost.i.tution, stealing or robbery.

And so she had chosen the third choice and followed their big bro Byrus and 2nd bro Raghu to rise up from out of the ma.s.ses of street rats and form their own raider group!

They had slowly grown from managing one small district to controlling an entire small route to finally establis.h.i.+ng a large group of raiders. But their 15-20 years of a nomad"s life had changed for good when Byrus finally broke through from the Master realm to become a Grandmaster!

That was a power level that could contend with an army Colonel or even a weak Lieutenant General!

That was a power that allowed the Sand Crab Raiders to decide to finally take on the local hegemons and dominate the region!

But the story of rags to riches seemed to have come to a tragic closure right here and now, facing the wrong end of a sharp dagger.

"No, NO!!!" Eyes filled with unwillingness stared down the tip of the incoming blade, unable to accept her fate just like that.

But no matter how much she strained her willpower, her body just couldn"t keep up with her mind and intentions - her arms were still extended in the middle of the earlier desperate spear thrust and could not return in time to defend herself. And her legs were like two blocks of stone - unable to respond to the tip of death that was approaching rapidly!

So it was with great resignation that she realised - she was finished.

At least, until a tiny little projectile whistled over and changed everything.

"Level 2 spell: Acid Arrow!"

A mature sounding youth"s voice called out from the distance, but though he was far away, to the two combatant"s, his voice sounded like that of a G.o.d booming out across the entire planet, announcing his decree of judgment and blessing onto the world!

And though it was just a measly level 2 spell, one that would hardly faze her or even force her to dodge, but at this right moment, that spell literally was the dividing line between life and death.

The skilful deployment of such a simple skill made all the difference between victory and defeat!

And as the green acidic dart hurtled through the air and knocked aside Evisu"s dagger, it bought just enough leeway for l.u.s.t to slip past the killing blow and escape with her life!

"What the f***!?!" Evisu"s earlier confident demeanour was nowhere to be seen as she hurriedly tried to move her body back to a regular fighting pose from her contorted, limbo-dance current position. But she was not quick enough to regain the initiative.

"It"s my turn!!" l.u.s.t had now withdrawn her stave, regained her stance and was already beginning her counterattack!

* * * * *

[Recap of Mountain-smasher Adron vs. Dee of the Earth"s battle]

"Bloodline Release: Bear!"

Adron frowned and began to pant as Dee"s form began to writhe and grow stronger as the a.s.sa.s.sin quickly started to overpower the bandit.

"Yoo chitted!?!?" Adron roared in defiance, obviously upset that his opponent had pulled this move out of nowhere.

Dee just smiled calmly - and smashed Adron into the ground.

Or, he prepared to.

When he slipped.

And how was it possible to slip?

"Level 1 spell: Grease! Cantrip: Force pus.h.!.+" A voice called out two spells in quick succession.

One was an everyday utility spell that every novice mage would know and use to play pranks on his friends, while the other only exerted as much force as a normal punch.

But when two people were in the midst of a nail-biting struggle, exerting every ounce of their strength, just a little difference in footing and the slightest push at the back of one"s knees could become the straw that broke the camel"s back!

Lars smiled victoriously as he only exerted at most beginner Elite-level strength, but managed to intervene and rescue his newfound followers.

It was not the force nor the power - but the application of the skills and abilities at one"s disposal!

"!!!!!!" Dee of the Earth"s strength and power instantly became useless the moment his feet slipped and left the power of the earth; as a fighter could not even use 10% of their strength without anchoring themselves properly.

And in that instant, Adron flashed a gap-toothed grin and declared his finis.h.i.+ng move.

"Skool dwiver!"

And Adron smashed the bear-transformed man"s head right into the ground in a rocking, crus.h.i.+ng spinning overhead suplex!

* * * * *

Byrus and Susano were b.l.o.o.d.y, beaten-up and ragged from the clear gap in power and skill between them and their World-cla.s.s realm opponent.

But though they had been struck down time and time again, they were not defeated - nor were they destroyed!

And it was they who were smiling confidently as they repeatedly obstructed the way of the leader of the Shadows from his repeated attempts to head to their boss!

"You won"t get through us!!" Byrus declared as he smiled grimly, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth as he acted as the s.h.i.+eld to resist those attacks.

"Every second that pa.s.ses is one closer... To your doom! Hahaha!" And a cold gleam

"Ah." But even at this time when a normal person would be screaming their heads off from frustration as their teammate fell before the brilliant golden-haired swordsman, his voice remained robotic and without emotion... As well as his face which remained frozen in an expressionless dull stare.

Though his actions were anything but dispa.s.sionate!

"Susano... Blacksword of the Four Paths of the Underworld... Is your stance representative of the Laughing Man...? Are you declaring war on us n.o.ble Houses of Gorun City?"

Susano just barked out a hoa.r.s.e laugh and did not reply, to which Boa, the leader of the Celestial Shadows, responded by keeping a deadpan face and voice.

At the beginning, when he was just trying to force a King vs. King battle and slay their leader Lars, he had already been exerting his maximum effort.

When he saw the Adept-level boy head to interfere in the battles between his subordinates and the raiders lieutenants, he was also not perturbed, still whittling away at the two Grandmaster fighters Byrus and Susano as he probed for weaknesses in their defence.

But when he saw one of his few remaining capable Shadows fall to the curved reaper"s blade, then his other two comrades being defeated one by one, he reacted. Not on his lifeless face or voice, but with his actions.

He exploded in deft movements and sharp attacks beyond what he had shown even before, making them realise that there was not just a gap in power, but one in skill!

Truly enough, though it was supposed to be that 2 Grandmasters were more or less equal to World-cla.s.s expert...

It was not true when the difference in skill levels was too great!

Nevertheless, he still could not break through their defences - not quite yet at least! However, it looked to be an inevitability...

"You will die. Both of you." His flat voice spoke again as he launched his all out attack.

"Get ready!!!" / "Careful!!!" Both Byrus and Susano cried out in alarm as they felt the atmosphere change.

"Stars..."

"Fall."

But they were not the target.

* * * * *

"A meteor shower spell?!? This World-cla.s.s a.s.sa.s.sin... Was also a mage?!? What the... Dangit all! Are you seriously trying to force me to blast you to smithereens???!!"

And a mage able to use Level 8 spells at that!

Lars" face turned black as he scowled and his eyes turned to the sky. His brow furrowed deeply as he considered the options he had remaining.

It was not just him who gazed upwards - everyone around was distracted momentarily even from the critical moments of their battle by the resplendent scene breaking forth above their heads.

Dozens of points of light afar off in the sky were swarming downwards, locked on to and targeted straight for Lars, looking ever so much like stars bursting into flames as they descended like a meteor shower from the heavens!

"c.r.a.p c.r.a.p c.r.a.p c.r.a.p!!! Should I just throw away my disguise and... Wait! Someone"s coming!" Lars looked to the east and saw a sight for sore eyes... Nope, it was a sight that poked one"s eyes out and made them wish to puke!

"Demon Maid Sharon to the rescue~! Hulululu~!" Sharon"s body emitted a bronze sheen, looking metallic and incredibly tough as she let out her nonsensical battle cry.

And she soared through the air to land right in front of Lars, his... I mean, her body overshadowing the boy and blotting out his figure entirely.

"Hulululululu~!!! No one can pierce my beautiful form!" As Sharon stood before Lars to protect him, she twirled around like a ballet dancer (more like a wrestler throwing a spinning clothesline) and stood as if in a dancing pose, holding out one hand before her with palm open and fingers pointed outwards.

"Moon Prism Power, Make-up! I"ll punish you in the name of the Moooon!" Sharon yodelled "daintily" and displayed her formidable muscles, bursting at the seams of her maid outfit. She had changed out of her black and white uniform and was sporting a new look - orange and black instead. And her tanned skin was anything but alabaster or white!

Then her body swirled with a copper-bronze sheen once more and emitted dull lights as a field of energy formed over the surface of her body to guard against the incoming storm of firebolts from the heavens!

The bolts that fell from the atmosphere struck her in a boom, emitting loud crashes as the veritable deluge exploded against her body!

Clouds of smoke, dust and debris fragmented and shrapnelled out to their vicinity but fortunately, there was no one nearby to be injured.

Nonetheless, though none of the Sand Crabs were hurt, they cried out in alarm.

Their boss" boss and the Demon Maid were already swallowed up by the deluge of fire!

"BOSS!!!"/ "G.o.d LARSSS!!!!!" Two masculine voices roared out in despair as they turned their backs to the enemy before them.

Who had been waiting for this exact moment - the one where he checkmated their king and then mopped up the p.a.w.ns after that.

"A big mistake." Boa of the stars announced mechanically and launched forward with sharp wire-daggers in either hand!