Chapter 180

Chapter 180

I stare down at the 4 Knights in shining armor before me. They each carry heavy shields and long silver swords.

The hum of mana fills the air as I track their power sources back to the ominous Iron door at the backside of the entrance hall.

It's less than 30 meters away, and that familiar evil red aura seeps out from beneath the crack and from its hinges. The Behemoth is back there...

All around me, there's fallen rubble. Fire creeps up the walls, and smoke begins to fill the room.

There are piles of wooden crates and fragments of used armor lining the wide hallways of the entrance hall on all sides.

Ember's fire magic begins to spread further and further down the edges of the room, shedding more light upon the performance that is about to commence.

Using my All-Seeing Eye, the strands of mana above the Knights' heads are as clear as day.

Their shields and armor give off a similar buzz and I can pick up the presence of mana shielding around their metal bodies.

It's thick, thicker than the guards shielding in the courtyard. Possibly twice as dense. Although its shielding doesn't matter much, all I really have to aim for are the strands above their heads.

I smirk, gripping my sword while focused on the back of the room.

"This should be easy enough..."

One of the Knights steps forward as I begin to run its way. I hear heavy metal footsteps as it draws near holding its shield in a perfect defensive position while readying its blade.

Well, perfect it's a perfect defensive position if an attacker were aiming at its body...

I leap upwards, air-stepping to gain speed and altitude with my eyes and glowing sword locked on the strand above its silver helmet.

The mindless metal suit of armor continues lunging forward as I make contact with the thin white thread of energy. A light buzz, followed by a snapping sound, leads to the loud clang of armor on the cold stone floor.

I hit the floor with a thud, landing on both feet and still holding my fully charged blade ready for more.

I hardly had to let out any MP to sever its ties with the aura behind that door. There was a bit more resistance than the guards outside, but it still broke with ease.

Like clockwork, the second silver Knight comes running at me with its sword at the ready.

This time around, it's holding the heavy metal shield at a higher angle. If I were aiming for its normal vital points, holding the shield up like this would be pointless...

I run at the guard with a puzzled, yet curious look on my face.

While jumping into the air, I lock my eyes on its mana thread. The thin white strand is wide out in the open, calling for my blade to slice it in half. As I swing my sword, a wide grin creeps across my face while watching the silver Knight's next move.

The suit of armor raises its shield, putting it in between my incoming sword and its only weak point. The thread.

I smirk, whispering under my breath as I continue to launch my attack.

"They're... learning...."

I follow through, propelling myself at the Knight with air-steps, increasing my speed and bursting into a fiery ball of flames.

Like a hot knife through butter, my blade glides through the shield of the Knight attempting to block my attack.

There's a loud buzz, followed by my sword stopping for a moment in mid-air. I'm forced to release the full attack I've been holding back inside the blade.

Following through with my swing, the thing blade crescent of fire leaves my sword, snapping the mana thread the moment my black fire makes contact.

I'll face it soon.

My boots crack the stone floor with each step as I use wind magic to increase my speed. The Knight's heavy boots send metallic echos throughout the entrance hall.

I focus on it, and it focuses on me.

My sword glows by my side as I run while its armor slowly becomes covered in the murderous red aura behind that iron door.

We get closer and closer until we finally collide.

I aim for the strand above its head, jumping in the air and swinging my blade. The Knight does not change its strategy in the slightest. It raises its heavy silver shield and covers its weak point while aiming to strike me with its sword.

Not wanting to take any chances, I release all the MP in my blade at once. My jet black crescent of fire collides with its heavy metal shield. A dense aura of crimson mana shielding covers it from head to toe.

On impact, the orange and yellow windows above us shatter into a million pieces showering the room in broken glimmering fragments of glass.

The ear-piercing metallic twang of our mana-on-mana collision echoes through the long corridor.

The knight stands in place as my black aura clashes with its red shield. I think quickly, darting my eyes back and forth, then begin to plunder its MP at once.

We're stuck at a standstill.

My attack won't budge an inch, and it can't move its shield because its lifeline is right behind it.

Its red aura seeps into my body, letting me charge my blade with more and more of its own MP.

The Knight doesn't move at all, keeping a steady shield against my blade.

As it begins to raise its own sword, attempting to get in a cheap strike, something odd happens.

It retreats before even throwing an attack.

The moment my plundering ability activates, this Knight has lost its strength. I watch the red aura around the Knight begin to fall back. I'm absorbing some of its energy, but the majority of it is creeping back behind the ominous Iron door.

I don't really care why it's retreating, I'll take full advantage of any weakness it shows.

I push my sword down with more and more force, now, with the black blade of fire pushing close to 1300MP in a single strike.

The dim glow of mana shielding cracking at the seems fills my vision and I let out a yell.

Channeling even more mana into my blade as the Knight's defenses get weaker and weaker, the white light that signifies the end of our battle begins to glow.

Moments later, an eruption of dark flames fills the room as my attack bursts through its final layer of shielding and snaps the thread above its head in two.

The black blade of fire follows through and heads straight at the iron door behind the Knight. With my attack already behind disrupted by the slicing of armor and dense thread, it collides with the metal door and explodes into a fiery display on impact.

The walls in front of me crumble to pieces. Fragments of glass still fall from the ceiling as the stone and iron fly in all directions creating a chaotic whirlwind of debris.

I hear Ember swoop in from behind me as I watch the final Silver Knight collapse to the floor. Its dense thread of mana dissipates into thin air.

I air-step up to jump on the Dragon's back as he approaches from behind me and we both burst into an eruption of our own flames. Ember's dense mana shielding acts as a force field to block out glass and stone as it falls down on us from above.

"Forward. I need to see what's behind that wall."

Without missing a beat, Ember and I fly straight through the fiery entrance that leads to the final room. We dive deep into the murderous red aura I've been searching for this whole time.The initial posting of this chapter occurred via Ñøv€l-B!n.