Chapter 808: Mage Sacrifice

Chapter 808: Mage Sacrifice

I should have stayed longer, Dallion thought.

From a personal point of view, hed love nothing better than finally getting to spend some quality time with Euryale. With the void gone, he missed her more than ever. As a noble, on the other hand, he knew he had to keep his distance for the sake of appearances. It was never simple when nobles of different countries had relationships, even when they were allies. At the present state of world chaos, having a fiance from the Stone and Steel Alliance would put him under suspicion. Not that it made things impossible, he would just have to be a lot more careful about it.

Do you think I should come back in a few weeks? Dallion asked as Lux propelled him forward.

Thanks to a combination of spells, the effects of acceleration were barely noticeable even at his current speed. It also helped that he had cast a few barriers in front of him as well. Even with dozens of instances and his reaction speed, the last thing he wanted was to have something crash into him.

Theres no point, dear boy. Even if you get there days in advance, youll find that the Imperial House and the Order have beaten you to it. Back in my day, Id say that the Academy would be present as well, but with everything that had passed, I doubt the emperor would risk them getting too much magic.

Doesnt hurt to check.

Good to see you havent changed, Gleam said from Dallions shoulder. After her return to the real world, the familiar had used illusion to reduce her size to that of a standard butterfly. Ruby had as well, although in this case, a lot less effort was required. Setting a colossus or two free, then rushing off to chase after something else.

Itll be fine, Dallion smirked.

On the positive side, though, apart from the Azures, the colossi would also keep Alien in check for a while, likely Euryales side as well. That was another reason why Dallion had quickly left. One might joke that being a noble had made him leave others to deal with the consequences of his actions, but the actual reason was to grant himself the time. By now, what had been celebrated as a clever means to turn the tides of the battle was probably cursed as a cure that was worse than the disease.

Eury and Dark will handle things. Dallion concentrated on tracking Tisaku.

While the battle mage had taken every precaution against being tracked: echoes keeping an eye on all item guardians he had with him, spells that would conceal any magic threads, and whatnot, there was one thing that remained out of his control: the flora and fauna of the wilderness.

With the current level of Dallions empathy trait, he could sense plants and animals for dozens of miles. More importantly, he could also combine scholarly and spellcraft skills to communicate with them from a distance. As such, he had been given a reliable account as to the general direction the battle mage was headed.

I think you should pick up the pace, dear boy, Adzorg suggested. You wont be able to do anything if he gets to any of the Azure cities.

Hes not going to a city, Dallion said. One of the things he had memorized in the command room was the locations of all major towns and cities in the area. With the level eighty cap removed, Dallions mind stat had jumped past ninety, allowing him near flawless recollection.

The path that Tisaku was retreating on was directly southwest, almost without deviation. None of the federation capitals were there. There always was the possibility that a new city had been erected, but the fact that the mage had deliberately ignored a few border towns in relative vicinity posed questions. The only thing of any significance was the western ocean.

Harp, think they might have found another nymph city?

There are no nymph cities, the harpsisword guardian replied. Only ruins.

The one we found before seemed in good shape.

Technically, Dallion hadnt seen it with his own eyes. Back then, he and Eury were helping Jiroh explore her home cloud citadel, leaving the underwater ruins to the other hunters of the group. From what they had said, the ruins were well preserved, if mostly empty. That hadnt kept them from gathering enough valuable artifacts to retire should they ever choose to.

Is he heading towards one? Dallion persisted.

Hes going to where one had been, Harp admitted.

With all the nymph spells and techniques the Azures used, Dallion suspected them having found a good haul of ancient artifacts. With the majority of the countries of the federation being on the ocean coast, they might well have been building up their arsenal of knowledge and equipment for decades, if not more.

Tell Lux how to get me there, Dallion ordered. Gleam, get ready for a real fight.

More real than where were coming from? The spectral shardfly laughed. Nice to see youre starting to appreciate me.

All one hundred of Dallions instances scattered throughout the sky, each casting a new set of spells. Meanwhile, so did Tisakua double sphere spell, so complex and intricate that it made anything but Adzorgs castings look like a joke.

Nymph magic, Dallion thought. But was it?

While the spell itself was unfamiliar, all the symbols were clearly based on human magic. Thousands of them Dallion knew well enough to say exactly what they did. Only a few dozen hed have to check later, but could still recreate them with ease.

A massive beam of purple light shot out from the aether armor, but instead of aiming towards Dallion, it flew in the opposite directionright into the ocean.

You focused on the battle, mistaking it for the war. Its not even close. Everyone and everything so far is expendable.

Crap! Dallion thrusted forward with half of his instances. Although he still couldnt determine the exact purpose of the spell, he could see what it was doing to the caster. All the magic within the battle mages body, Moonstones included, was siphoned away, giving strength to the beam.

Gleam, cut the beam! Dallion shouted.

A wind slash more powerful than a line attack split the air, striking the beam. The moment it did so, though, the attack crumbled as if were a line of ash hiding in a marble column.

Unwilling to concede failure, Dallion flew up to Tisaku, performing a spark infused point attack at the mans head from point blank range.

White energy shone within the harpsisword, combining with water to create the most powerful attack Dallion was capable of.

TERMINAL STRIKE

Damage dealt is increased by 1000%

A purple rectangle emerged in front of him as the force of the attack pierced the aether helmet along with the mages head. Sadly, that did nothing to disrupt the spell. The flow of magic kept on exiting what was left of the mages body, as if nothing had happened.

Dallion only had enough time for a split-second decision: pull back and let the spell run its course, or actively engage and attempt to weaken its effect if nothing else. In typical fashion, he chose the latter, letting go of his harpsisword and reaching into the hole created by his attack.

This is going to hurt, he thought.

Taking advantage of the only unarmored spot in his formerly living enemy, Dallion reached out with his internal magic threads in an attempt to consume what was left.

The magic flow hit him like a bolt of lightning, but Dallion refused to move away.

Just like a vortex, he hissed through gritted teeth. Two sets of healing symbols covered his bodycourtesy of Gleam and Harpwhile Lux enveloped him in blue flames to strengthen the effect.

There were times when such a degree of healing would have been enough against any enemy. Right now, it was barely sufficient, restoring Dallions right arm almost as fast as the absorption was charring it. The pain was so great that Dallion couldnt move, let alone cast another spell with his free arm. The grip of his left hand loosened, causing the aura sword to slip out.

Dont be a fool, Adzorg shouted. You wont be able to absorb that much!

Whats another eighty magic? Dallion tried to say, his face twisting in pain despite his efforts.

Gleam, cut his hand off! The echo insisted.

No! Dallion hissed. As painful as the sensation was, he could feel its intensity decreasing. If he wanted to decrease the efficiency of the spell, he had to work faster.

Doubling his effort, he kept pulling the magic threads into himself when suddenly the entire mage tore into two with a snap.

You have assimilated part of ARGUS TISAKUs magic, increasing your magic trait to 103.