"Aki, Len, come out."
The space between Kyran and the special ops distorted as Aki and Len's figures emerged. Their eyes had turned gold, and they exuded a domineering aura not present in them earlier.
Aki now held a black and purple spear, while Len's hands were covered with black and purple gauntlets. From their aura and posture, they could be easily mistaken as combat mages.
Then again, it was not entirely a mistake because Kyran did activate the battle code in their programming. Their magic and combat settings might not be as fluid as Neo's, but right now, they could fight against a Magus with no problem.
Aki and Len intercepted the approaching special ops. Although they still could not circulate Void magic energy, their program's magic spells and combat knowledge had been updated.
The special ops brandished their weapons and summoned their magic. Red and brown magic arrays appeared on their weapons as they augmented magic into them.
Len jumped, its hands poised, ready to punch out. On the other hand, Aki whirled the spear in its hand as a start of a whirlwind stirred at the tip of the spear's blade.
Len landed and directly struck the ground.
BOOM!
The ground exploded instantly, resulting in a four-meter radius crater.
"Aaargh!"
Some of the approaching special ops were caught up in the explosion and were thrown back, while the rest, who managed to stop in time, jumped back.
However, when they jumped back, Aki, who had not been affected by Len's initial assault, swung its spear horizontally, aiming at them.
"Watch out!"
One of the special ops shouted. However, the latter's warning came too late, and all of them were hit by the whirlwind that came with Aki's swing.
"Aaaargh!"
Aki's whirlwind attack blew them away.
Meanwhile, when Aki and Len appeared, Kyran had already taken a step toward Osric.
In a blink of an eye, Kyran had already appeared in front of Osric. Silver magic energy gathered on Kyran's left hand as he pulled back and aimed it at Osric.
Because of Kyran's sudden appearance, Osric failed to react in time.
Nevertheless, there was no trace of surprise on his face. Instead, he sneered and only looked at Kyran.
BAM!
Kyran's fist landed on a black wall that suddenly appeared between him and Osric.
"Did you forget about me?"
Gael's taunting voice spoke from behind.
Slash!
At the same time he appeared, he swung his scythe and aimed at Kyran's back.
Clang!
"Wha--?"
Unfortunately, just as what had happened earlier, Gael's hands holding the scythe were forced back after hitting what seemed to be a metal object.
Kyran frowned slightly. Although he did not use his full force and only exerted five percent of his normal strength, for the black wall to absorb his left fist's force without crumbling was very surprising.
Apart from this, recalling what Gael had just said also deepened Kyran's frown.
Did Kyran forget about Gael?
Of course not.
However, Kyran did not think Gael posed any threat to him. Thus, he ignored him and decided to deal with Osric first since the latter was about to make a troublesome move. Besides, Kyran's armor was created using Draconic and Void magic. It was impossible for any magic attacks-- not to mention physical attacks, to land a clean hit.
Kyran already knew that Gael's scythe differed from the one he had used when they fought in Tracomill. For one thing, Kyran did not believe Gael was that stupid to swing around his scythe when he was wearing armor made from Void magic.
If Kyran guessed correctly, the scythe in Gael's hands had the ability to slice through Void.
The reason he thought of this was because of 'Layla.'
Kyran had an inkling that Layla possessed knowledge, or even items, that could counter Void magic.
Obviously, the most effective counter to Void magic was definitely Draconic magic. It was one of the reasons Layla was adamant about taking the Regis Family under her control. But that did not mean there were no other means to counter the Void.
Kyran never believed Void magic to be omnipotent. Thus, he was always on the lookout for mages who had the capability to counter it.
In any case, Kyran already sensed that Gael's Shadow magic had developed in a strange direction.
Layla must have known it and told Gael how it could be utilized. If he used it correctly, he might even be able to 'cut through' the Void.
All of these were only Kyran's speculation. Nevertheless, he believed he was onto something. For this reason, he decided to enhance his Void Armor with Draconic magic.
As Gael was forced back, Kyran did a 360 back kick and sent Gael hurtling downward.
BOOM!
"Guah!" Gael spat out a mouthful of blood as he landed with his back on the ground. Due to the force of his land, he got rooted in the ground.
Osric was not idle when Kyran kicked Gael. He waved his magic staff, and the sea serpent roared at Kyran.
After Osric received a boost from the array formation, the attack power of the magic staff's sentient also increased.
Kyran turned just in time when the sea serpent roared. The latter opened its mouth and planned on chomping Kyran down.
Kyran crossed his arms in front of him and braced for impact.
When the sea serpent's mouth closed on Kyran's torso, it did not stop its advance and even increased its momentum, taking Kyran upward.
Osric waved his magic staff and launched a follow-up attack. Water pillars sprang out from the ground and went straight toward Kyran.
Since Kyran was still stuck in the sea serpent's mouth, the water pillars swerved to the sides before piercing him from the spots that the sea serpent's mouth could not cover.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The sea serpent released Kyran as soon as the water pillars, which seemed to have transformed into water drills, pierced through him.
However.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Continuous sounds of metal striking metal rang out, forcing Osric's expression to turn grim.
Osric heard the metallic sound after Gael's scythe hit Kyran's armor, which was why he manipulated the water pillars to rotate like drills before piercing through the armor. He was confident the water pillars could drill a hole through Kyran's armor.
But what just happened? Why did Osric's water pillars fail to drill a hole in Kyran's armor? Even the sea serpent's sharp fangs could not dent it!
The thousands of mages behind Osric were stunned at what they had witnessed. They had seen how magic attacks disintegrated after touching Kyran's armor. It was all because of the Void magic's property. But what about now? How did it appear as if it was made of metal?
"Neo, go and deal with this guy."
Kyran had spoken in a low voice.
Nevertheless, Osric and the rest of the people below heard him.
The space a few feet from Kyran distorted, and a figure holding a wooden staff appeared.
Osric's eyes narrowed in recognition as soon as he saw the figure.
Some of the mages in the array formation also recognized the figure, and their expressions turned grim.
"If you will it, I can also deal with the rest of them, Master," Neo said as soon as he appeared. At the same time, he waved his wooden staff, and it expanded, turning into a huge hammer.
Without any pause in his movement, Neo raised the huge hammer and slammed it toward Osric.
RAWRGH!
Seeing the incoming hammer, the sea serpent glided back and roared at Neo. It then waved its tail and aimed at him.
Kyran's reddish-purple eyes flashed as he looked at the sea serpent's tail. In an instant, he disappeared from within the water pillars' bombardment and reappeared right before the sea serpent's nose.
Silver magic energy gathered on his left hand. It then shifted in a blink of an eye, making it look like Kyran's fist had turned into a huge dragon claw.
BAM!
A resounding hit filled the air, and the following shockwave made those in midair and below spat out a mouthful of blood. Nevertheless, they did not leave their position in fear of disrupting the array formation.
After all, the hit that sounded did not only come from Kyran hitting the sea serpent but also Neo's hammer slamming on Osric's water barrier.
RAWRGH-- SPLASH!
The sea serpent's roar was interrupted as it exploded and turned into drops of water that rained down on the mages below.
"Urgh..!"
Meanwhile, Osric withstood Neo's hammer attack but was pushed back a few meters away.
Seeing this, Kyran stepped toward Osric and appeared behind him in a split second.
On the other hand, Neo turned his attention toward the mages who refrained from leaving their position in the array formation. He raised his huge hammer, and when the mages nearby resolved to withstand his attack with their combined defensive barrier, the hammer increased in size again.
The mages trembled after seeing the huge-ass hammer grow bigger.
Neo smiled at them before slamming the hammer down once more.