Roland snarled at my words and the air exploded as we launched toward each other again.
Sparks rained as my flaming blade met his claws once more, each blow melting flesh, each strike threatening to tear the world around us apart.
The library behind us had already crumbled into rubble, and now, even the buildings surrounding it had started to ignite.
We moved like twin storms–fire and shadow intertwining in a dance of chaos.
I struck at his ribs. He twisted, deflecting it with an elbow, then retaliated with a knee to my chest.
THUD!
I grunted, skidding across the ground, leaving a trail of molten stone in my wake.
But before he could follow up–
BOOM!
A fireball landed on him again. Using the opportunity, my wings erupted, launching me back into the air.
I flipped mid-air, then dove back like a comet, sword leading the way.
He roared and met me halfway.
BOOOM!!!
The impact cracked the ground beneath us. A crater formed where we clashed, and shockwaves erupted in every direction, blasting through buildings and sending glass and debris flying.
"Still standing?" Roland growled, as blood dripped from his lips.
"I was just about to ask you the same thing."
He lunged at me. I sidestepped, slashing across his side. Then again. And again. And again.
But even as he bled, his claws struck mu arm, tearing through the flames and biting into flesh.
"GHK!" I reeled back. He followed after me, his hand outstretched like a spear–
CRACK!
His fist connected with my cheek, sending me flying through a stone column. It shattered like paper.
My vision spun. Blood clouded my eyes. I forced myself to roll up, only for his foot to slam down where my head had been a second before.
"You're slipping Richard, come on!" He shouted, a wild grin etched across his face. "Your little trick isn't gonna work forever! Look I'm already adapting." He said stretching his arms wide.
I coughed. Hate to admit it but he's right. Fuck. "Yeah? Try me?" I said in an attempt to deny what was seeming inevitable at this point.
In response to my words, he dashed forward. Tho this time, something felt off.
He was faster now.
And not just faster–
"Tch–" I barely blocked his next strike, but the force sent me flying into a stone pillar.
He was stronger too and his regeneration was accelerating again.
His limbs had fully healed now.
He wasn't giving me a chance to recover either.
In an instant he was in front of me again, driving his elbow into my ribs.
CRUNCH!
I spat blood and gasped for air, as I barely managed to conjure a wall of fire to push him back.
But he wasn't slowing down.
At this time, it was beginning to get difficult for Beatrice and Alice to keep up with us as they were running out of mana.
Damn. So I'm alone in this huh.
He rushed at me again, this time driving me into the dirt with a punch to the gut.
My flames flared, but his claws tore through, stabbing into my shoulder.
"Gh-!"
I groaned in pain as he ripped the flesh, then kicked me like a broken toy across the square.
I skidded, bounced, and slammed into a burning carriage, smoke and ash surrounding me.
Ugh. Fuck.
Everything hurts.
Even breathing was a struggle at this point.
He walked toward me, dragging his foot, as if savoring each step. "You know, when I first sensed your mana, I thought you'd be as strong as a bishop..."
He paused, then continued. "Looks like I was wrong. But now that I fought you, I can't help but be disappointed. Tho you fought well, you were still nowhere near a bishop. And now..."
He raised his hand, his claws glowing an ominous dark color.
"Now you die."
Then–
WHOOOM!!!
A deep rumble echoed from above.
Something massive approached–carving through the clouds with a guttural growl like thunder caged in steel.
Roland's hand paused mid-air.
A shadow grew larger and larger on the pavement beneath us.
A wind unlike any other swept over the burning ruins of the town.
I forced my injured body to tilt my head upward.
And there, above the city, something loomed. It was vast and felt very ominous.
It's frame was shaped like a beast of metal–long, plated, and broad-winged, it's underbelly groaning with mechanical life.
Thick reinforced plating gleamed in the firelight, and strange sigils marked its hull.
For a moment, it looked like some kind of divine creature.
Then I remembered–
It was an aircraft.
It was a vehicle I'd only ever seen in the library archives.
A military grade type too.
A heavy lifter. A reinforced hull. A size big enough to transport countless troops hence used mostly in wartime.
This one tho... was insanely huge. It could cover almost the entire town.
Granted, the town wasn't that huge but still.
Just then–
Thump.
A single black dot, no, a person, dropped from the bottom hatch.
They fell like a stone, hitting near the western part of the town.
There was a moment of silence. Then–
KKKKRRRAAAAKKKKOOOOM!!!
A shockwave of ice burst from the point of impact, erupting outward like a storm of crystal spears.
Buildings, flames, bodies–all swallowed by raging frost.
Beatrice screamed as she conjured flame shields but it wouldn't be enough.
Alice tried to reached out to me, panicking.
"Tch." Using the lapse in concentration of Roland, I swept in right leg causing him to trip and fall on his ass.
Dispelling elemental mode, I called forth darkness.
Just before the cold could reach them–
The darkness surged forth. I gritted my teeth, blood streaming from my lips as I pushed my large parts of my remaining mana outward.
"Velum gravitonis."
The dark magic wrapped around the girls in a thick barrier of shadows.
Then reconjuring my flaming wings, I flew, no, dragged them into the sky, rising above the wave of frozen death just as it crashed through the burning ruins below.
Everything it touched froze solid in a heartbeat.
Streets, homes, corpses.
Even Roland.
He turned in shock, arm mid-swing, before the ice enveloped him.
FWOOSH.
His body was locked in place. Solid crystal.
It didn't stop there.
The ice kept spreading, stretching all the way–
My eyes widened.
The orphanage.
And it froze too.
The entire town was silent.
Still.
A graveyard of ice.
I hovered in the sky, Beatrice and Alice unconscious in my arms, the burning warmth of flames the only thing keeping them from freezing.
The aircraft above us circled once, then steadied.
And then–
A voice echoed in my mind.
[Richard.]
The system called.
[Do you feel that?]
Yeah. It's kinda hard not to.
I closed my eyes to focus on the mana that was emanating from the western part of town.
That pressure.
That mana.
It wasn't just large.
It was overwhelming. Like a giant mountain pressing down on me.
The ice... wasn't ordinary.
It wasn't just elemental.
It had traces of divine magic.
I opened my eyes, and saw it.
On the side of the aircraft.
A white-gold emblem etched in silver.
A radiant sun pierced by a blade
The symbol of the Holy Order of Light.
My lips curled into a grimace.
They were here. I knew they'd come, afterall they would've been informed that a hero candidate was found here.
And if they're here...
I looked down at the now frozen town.
There was only one group of people in the order that's capable of this.
The ones who wielded divine magic like a sword.
The ones who could freeze not just a small town like this in an instant but an entire freaking city as well.
The ones the Order only dispatch in times of emergency when even their strongest crusaders failed.
A Paladin.