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CHAPTER START---
"Radiance Formula 20: Blinding Barrage!"
Golden Magic Circles form in the air before Oberon, extending almost an arm's length in front of him and moving to align like telescope lenses within seconds. Twenty in perfect alignment, each amplifying the singular beam of light that flows through them before it reaches the next, enhancing it many times over and amplifying the Radiance trait.
As the beam exits the final Rune, it splits into two dozen columns of light that arc through the morning sky, scorching the air as they rise and descend upon the swarm of monsters.
The Gruumsh squints, nearly blinded by the golden light, before raising its staff, making a pale green Magic Energy shield around its body.
'A Shield…annoying,' Oberon thinks as the columns of light slam into the horde and explode upon impact, blasting blood and flesh through the area, sending fragments of ruined buildings and scorched dirt all the way to the edge of the valley.
"Wow," Captain Carit says, staring at Oberon's back while he taunts the surviving monsters. "Didn't know he had that kind of firepower."
"Sir Oberon is strong, but he left some of them for us to have fun too," Virgo says as a few smaller, damaged monsters rush toward Oberon.
Oberon leaps high above them, floating in the air for a moment before rocketing toward the Gruumsh.
"Please don't be boring," Oberon mutters as he flips and drops feet first toward the monster's face, only for it to raise the staff with both its right hands to block him, stopping his momentum in exchange for its bones creaking under the strain. "Yes! Not boring!"
The monster roars and swipes at him with its upper left hand, but Oberon simply flips his gravity and floats above it, taking aim with another golden Magic Circle at its head.
'Radiance Formula: 20—' Before he could finish compiling the Runes, while only the first few Magic Circles were formed and positioned, the Gruumsh had already raised its shield. 'He warned me about this.'
Oberon cancels his Spell and instead crashes into the shield with both feet, increasing gravity on the Gruumsh and forcing it to drop its guard to swing the staff at him.
The monster puts its full might and weight into the swing, twisting its body and gripping the enchanted wooden staff with both its right hands, only for Oberon to raise a square Light Shield to his side and block it.
His Light Shield cracks, but he reinforces it against the immense force, enough to stonewall the attack and send reverberations through the monster's arms.
"My turn," he says with a mischievous smile, surprising the monster enough for it to begin stumbling away.
As it stumbles backward, he adjusts its gravity, sending it falling backward, and as the staff raises, he floats with it, holding onto the finger-like structure at the top and raising it high. He then manipulates gravity to give himself an orbit and spins vertically like a wheel, launching the Gruumsh into the air, through the valley, all the way to the far side of the ruined town.
The monster rolls across the dirt and rubble before rolling to a stop, pushing itself off the ground with four hands and looking around for its staff. It looks around, only to see Oberon floating in the air, with the staff slowly rotating in front of him, inspecting it.
Its blood boils, veins bulging as the staff, its most precious item, is in the possession of another. But before it could unleash a blood-curdling roar and charge Oberon, he waves his hand, tossing the staff back to it.
The Gruumsh catches it, surprised and confused, while staring at him.
"It wouldn't be any fun if you don't have it," Oberon says while landing on the ground. "I can tell, you're definitely S-Class, but…you're weak."
Sensing the insult, the Gruumsh charges Oberon and swings its staff at him. Oberon smiles and focuses his Gravity Magic in his Barrier while swinging his fist at the staff.
Fist and staff clash, shaking the valley, and both combatants stumble back. Oberon's smile nearly splits his face while the Gruumsh's surprise becomes worry, but it redoubles all efforts into crushing this challenger.
The few smaller monsters arrive at Oberon's group's position, but the thunderous cacophony coming from the main battle startles everyone, causing them to look back at the absurdity of Oberon's battle.
They see him avoid a strike before floating into the air and punching the monster in the face, only for it to grab his torso, and to their surprise, the boy spins his body and the monster with it, causing it to tumble across the dirt once more.
Virgo and Aries snap out of their stupor as they notice a handful of monsters approaching, and step in front of the crew.
"Stopping you is my first order from Sir Oberon, so I won't go easy on you," Virgo says before dropping into a crouch and placing a single finger on the dirt road. "Don't climb out."
The dirt below the monsters glows golden for a moment before disappearing, leaving a perfectly formed cylindrical hole three stories deep below them. Virgo then slides her finger forward on the dirt, and the pit glows golden once more. Magic Energy becomes earth and closes in the walls, crushing the monsters into a quick grave, leaving no trace of them.
Virgo gets up and dusts her hands. "Sir Oberon's Magic Energy truly is amazing. Are you enjoying it, Aries?"
Virgo turns around to see Aries making large balls of fluffy pink wool near the crew. "Yes, my wool has never been this soft or comfy before. It's incredible!"
"This is amazing!" Captain Carit relaxes into a large wool ball.
While the crew is getting comfortable, Oberon's intensity rises, flashing against the wooden staff without giving an inch of ground, feeling the Gruumsh's anger and power rise by the second, and raising his output to perfectly match it.
After nearly a minute of clashing, he decides to change things up, overcome by his curiosity about the monster's spells. He opens his fist and forms a sheen of Light Magic like a blade on his right hand.
As the staff descends, he slices through it instead of punching, splitting it in two before grabbing the section still in the monster's hand.
The Gruumsh's eyes widen as Oberon alters gravity and flips the 22ft tall monster over his head. Its four arms attempt to grab him, but he moves too quickly, flying upward and kicking it in the chest to launch it through the dirt.
The Gruumsh feels a tug on its weapon, then finally, Oberon steals it away, throwing it into the forest surrounding the valley while the monster rolls through the dirt.
Oberon raises a hand and points at the monster with one fist. Twenty Magic Circles line up in front of him, creating an amplifying Radiance Formula once more. But again, the monster raises its Magic Shield at the last second to block it.
'That's annoying,' Oberon thinks as the monster charges him. 'Radiance Formula takes time to set up, but this monster has a faster defensive reaction time than most. Maybe I could…'
Oberon leaps away, causing the Gruumsh to miss a wide swing at him before raising his hand.
He intentionally telegraphs his movements, knowing the monster is reacting to the interval between the formation of the first Magic Circle and the firing of the attack, not his movements, but the bright golden glow of his Magic Circles.
He gives it as much time as he can to react, preparing itself, falling into the same pattern, expecting the same result. Then, in a moment that Makarov Dreyar would later describe as unprecedented genius, he alters the Radiance Formation on instinct.
Forming all 20 Runes in one concentric circle and shrinking them, giving the appearance of a single Magic Circle, and then firing a sharp beam of Light Magic from it.
His beam hits instantly, before the monster could form its shield, slicings off both its left arms and taking a chunk of the shoulder with it. Both arms flop to the ground as it screams in pain, flailing wildly, drenching the dirt below them into red mud.
Oberon frowns, mentally berating himself for missing. His intention was to split the monster down the middle, but due to his improvised adaptation of layering and sequencing the Runes, his aim was thrown off.
However, this did give him the opportunity to let his friend show off what he could do.
He descends to the monster as it flails toward him, swinging desperately while its brain is flooded with pain. Oberon then flies upward, flipping backward and kicking it in the chin, using Gravity Magic to launch it ten stories into the air as he orients himself to look up at it.
Forming a finger gun with his hand, his gaze meets that of the monsters, and for a moment, as if sensing its death, the pain fades, and clarity washes over its mind.
The last thing it sees is Oberon casting a bored expression its way while flexing his thumb and mimicking the recoil of a revolver. Receiving the signal, from the forest at the edge of this valley, Caelum unleashes a 1.5m -5ft- wide pillar of raw Magic Energy from its barrel, disintegrating the monster and punching a hole through the forest on the other side of the valley.
CHAPTER END---
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pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene [Read ahead & support me]
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