Chapter 140: Timaeus' Death

In the moments that the Imperial soldier made for the desk, Kothar ran through his options to stop the soldier in his head. He could use his Spatial Portal to open a portal, but that would surely give away Kothar's identity to Docara. Next, he could use his Lightning Magic, but his more powerful spells took time to charge up, and there was no certainty that he could stop the soldier with a weaker spell.

Another option would be to lance the soldier clean through with his Plasma Blade, but that would leave distinctive scorch marks that would raise their own questions.

In the end, Kothar decided for none of these options, he hadn't practiced this before, but he was sure it would work, and besides, the Lightning Mana in the sword itself would do a significant amount of damage, additionally, there were Tribes people on the mission with them, and their weapons were similar enough to Kothar's that he could use it freely. 

Kothar flipped his sword so that he was pinching the spine of the blade with his finger, and lifted it high above his head, throwing it with all his strength at the fleeing Imperial soldier.

An anguished cry rang out as Kothar's blade lanced the soldier clean through his midsection, and the Lighting Mana blasted all through his body, sending him convulsing down to the ground, within arm's reach of the desk.

The mist in the air dissipated, and Kothar walked slowly toward the man lying on the floor, a pool of blood slowly spreading across the floor, his once white clothing now dyed a dull red. 

Kothar pulled his sword free from the soldier's body, and swung through the air, and the weak, desperate cries that had been ringing out stopped.

Silently, Kothar cleaned his sword with a towel that hung from a clothing hook nearby, and then headed out into the corridor.

[Let's go help Docara, his opponent seemed far stronger, and from his mana signature, I'm not sure if Docara could take him on alone.] Silane said dully, experiencing the negative swirl of emotions that came with fighting another person always put her in a subdued mood.

[You're right, and from all the noise that Pony was making while he fought, it seems that his battle is already over.] Kothar pushed open the door of the room, and was forced to leap through the air, sending himself flying before rolling as he landed, stopping himself from slamming into the stone floor.

An enormous Wind Slash had flown through the air just as he had left the room, gouging the stone floor deep and tearing the roof above.

"Good thing you've sorting things out on your end Rufus, might need a hand here!" Docara's voice called out from the other side of the room, where he was dodging a flurry of Wind Slashes from a furious Mage, who was currently standing tall in midair, atop a swirling column of wind.

"You! What have you done to Timaeus!" The thin, short man atop the column of wind yelled shrilly at Kothar, waving an arm to send half the crescent shaped blades of wind slicing toward Kothar, following him as he evaded them.

The Mage was dressed in a surprisingly shabby brown robe, and looked more like a monk than a Mage in the Imperial army, especially considering his bald head and shaved face. 

Kothar cast Lighting Aura on himself, charging his sword with Lightning Mana to block the slashes that converged toward him. 

In any other situation, Kothar  would have simply opened a portal between himself and the slashes, but he was committed to keep his identity a secret.

Docara himself was surrounded with a swirling shield of wind, and unlike the Mage he faced, each of his lower legs were surrounding with a whirlwind, as he dashed from wall to wall, bouncing around the corridor like a ball thrown hard against one wall, making it extremely difficult for the Mage to land a hit on Docara. 

They were in a stalemate, the Wind Mage could not take time to charge up a strong enough spell to take out both Docara and Kothar, as that would mean having to take down his defenses, as a Mage could only keep so many spells active at one point. 

Kothar couldn't use any of his Lighting spells with a large area of effect, because he risked hitting Docara, even if he used a spell like Bolt Barrage, Docara's current trajectory was constantly changing, to a degree that even Silane could only predict where he would for a few moments. 

Inspired by his recent attack against the man he now knew was named Timaeus, Kothar increased the mana he was channeling to his Lightning Aura as much as he dared.

At this point, he was moments away from falling to the floor and convulsing like those that were on the receiving end of his spells, and even with his affinity to the element, the first hints of pain began. 

It was as if he was being stabbed all throughout the inside of his body with thousands of tiny needles. 

Sparks of lightning now covered his body, and emanated out all around him, Kothar grew faster and faster, and the Wind Mage watched in horror as both the enemies in the corridor with him now moved at such a speed that he couldn't possibly hope to hit them. 

Now, Kothar sent an enormous surge of mana to his lightning blade, and sparks also flew from the blade in his hand. 

The Mage was now desperate, he could tell that his life would come to an end if he didn't do something soon. He drew out a necklace from under his brown robe, and lifted it high, as it radiated a greenish glow. 

"Take cover!" Docara yelled, certain that the device in the Mage's hands would be destructive in nature. Kothar dove toward the door closest to him, the empty room that had no one occupying it, while Docara dove to the stairwell.