Chapter 71

What is this sensation I’m feeling? What exactly is it? Why am I sensing it now?

Many questions filled my mind, but I threw them away for another time because right now, it wasn’t the time to think about it.

As the feeling of something massing, like invisible mist, was coming from the two people running to me, starting to reach what seemed like a critical point, I had my guard up to the max because I had an uneasy feeling that something big was coming.

I was proven right because the feeling of something massing with the two of them began to form into a shape.

I saw one of them had tendrils made up of water coming out of his back while the other stopped running and placed their hands on the ground.

Realizing they’re mages, I sense something moving through the rooftop, coming toward me from the mage who placed his hands on the rooftop we were standing on. My instinct was telling me to trust the thing I was sensing because something was going to attack me where I stood, and I needed to get out of the way.

So, with that in mind, I jumped back, and as I did that, spikes made out of the rooftop tiles shot up to where I was standing.

However, as I jumped back, I was taken by surprise by the other person, who had water tendrils, starting to shoot out needle-like projectiles made out of water at me.

Twisting my body mid-air as time was moving slowly, I tried moving out of the attack, but I wasn’t able to fully do that because my right leg got hit by the needle-like projectiles.

Hitting the ground after moving out of the way of most of the needle-like projectiles, I got up as fast as I could, with much difficulty, because my left leg was heavily injured and was beginning to bleed profusely.

I was only hit with around 5 needles, but to think they would do this much damage.

Ignoring the sharp, intense pain with each step I took, I dashed to the mage who used earth magic because he seemed to be the easier of the two to take down.

Getting right in front of him, I try to aim at his kneecaps, aiming to cut them apart to immobilize him. However, sensing something moving on the rooftop between us, a long spike suddenly shot up.

I tilted my head out of the way, managing to not get hit at the very last second, which nearly took off my head; however, he took out two pairs of daggers to begin attacking me.

I block and parry each of his swings, something I was finally able to do with Sarah’s support.

Each of his swings and thrusts was slightly better than most of my family’s black knights I’ve fought against. I am more than enough if this were a normal fight, but magic was the problem because, like seeing how Athrun fought back in the dungeon, he was fighting with his magic.

But different from how Athrun fought, it was more towards people than monsters.

I had to be wary of not only the mage that was using his water magic but also each step he took, because there would be a chance he would shoot out large spikes from the roof tiles.

The only thing that saved me from losing this fight was my strange, newly awakened 6th sense, which I was starting to get used to, like an extension of my own body.

After a couple of exchanges, I had an opening where he overextended his arm in a thrust, which I then brought down with the sword Athrun lent me and severed his right arm.

I was sure that would give me some breathing room to knock him out because any person would have been too stunned or lost focus for the slightest of moments, but why isn’t he bleeding?

Who the hell are these people? I knew they were special black knights from my family since I figured they were mages, a cut above the rest, but what are they if you can even call them human?

Moving several steps back to quickly reassess the situation, more spikes shot up from where I was standing. Not only that, I also had to dodge the other mage, the one with water magic, who whipped water tendrils at me.

The tip of the tendrils was shaped into a blade, and I wasn’t about to find out how sharp they were, despite it being made out of water.

Leaving a huge gash on the roof tiles and more to come, I desperately did whatever I could to not get hit.

Time slowed down as I proceeded to simultaneously go on the defensive and began thinking of what to do next.

I've got to end this fast because I’m at a huge disadvantage. I don’t have too many experiences on how to fight a mage, and I’m limited in my options on how to deal with them since I only have two engraved knives left, which are the only things I know would work against mages.

I need to save them as my trump card against Boras. Maybe I could spare one for… no, I need to retreat. They would take too long to fight, and there would be no guarantee I could win.

From looking at my left leg, it was bleeding a lot and hurt to even stand, if I could put it mildly. Not only that, as time around me was moving slowly, I could move normally through it with Sarah’s support spell, but now, I was beginning to move more sluggishly.

So with that in mind, time reverted back to normal, and I began running. I ran to the edge of the rooftop while dodging their attacks.

When I jumped down and descended the same way I got up, and when I landed, I nearly fell back on the ground because my left leg suddenly gave out.

So, leaning on the alley walls to regain my balance, I quickly took out a health potion from my pouch and began running with my now limp left leg.

I splash the health potion on my leg, which immediately heals the wounds I’ve sustained, stopping my bleeding, but the pain is still there.

Running through the maze-like back alleys, in the direction I saw Boras take Clare, I was extremely vigilant of my surroundings.

There is no knowing whether those two have any detection abilities, especially the one that could control the Earth, like with some sort of seismic sense.

Making many turns, I wondered if I was going in the right direction because of the dark and confusing layout of the back alleys.

I already passed by many streets filled with people, toward the next streets that had back alleys. Moving my way through the street would make me an obvious target to find, and knowing Boras, he would not care about civilian casualties since he doesn’t even give a damn about the people under him.

I continue to run, making my way through the alleys, but I begin to feel the same feeling I felt fighting those mages again.

I felt something flowing through the walls and streets of the back alleys ahead, so I stopped just before I stepped foot in the part of the back alley filled with, I don’t really know how to describe it, but energy.

The moment I stopped just before the edge, spikes started coming out of everywhere directly ahead of me.

They found me.

Sensing the mass of energy moving, I started running back where I came from, but I stopped because the mage who was using water was blocking my way.

Tendrils of water start coming out of his body and straight toward me.

This is not good, not good at all.

I’m boxed in with spikes shooting out of the ground and walls behind me, while in front of me, a mage with tendrils made of water is whipping straight for me.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, I decided to take on the water mage instead of the spikes moving toward me, because there were just too many spikes for me to get past.

Time slowed down, and I fought the water tendrils coming toward me, dodging my only option because of the limited room in the back alley I was in and the fact that the tendrils were made out of water.

Each time I dodged, another tendril would attack me, and each missed attack caused massive gashes on the walls and ground.

Just one hit would kill me immediately at worst and cause near-fatal injuries at best, so seeing the damage the tendrils caused and the fact that I can not get past them, I need a plan fast.

Jumping and running between the walls of the alleys to dodge each tendril, I was sustaining a mounting amount of minor injuries, slight cuts and lashings all over my body, all in the bid not to get hit once.

I needed an opening to get through this bullet hell, but each time I tried, I would be repelled back.

Damn, I’m going to have to resort to using one of my engraved knives because I am cornered and I don’t see another way out.

Jumping off the side of the back alley wall, I move my body out of the way of another water tendril whipping at me in mid-air. I did not have any opportunity to throw my engraved knife with the constant attacks.

With no other choice, I need to make one. Going as close as I could get to him, tendrils shot toward me, and I took even more damage.

There were deep cuts all over my body, but I gritted my teeth and ignored the pain to continue further.

Not stopping, a water tendril pierced through my left shoulder, but that gave me the opening I needed.

Since I only had one usable arm left, my right arm, holding the sword Athrun lent me, I let go of it and immediately reached for my engraved knives.

In an instant, I threw the engraved knife and grabbed the sword I had just dropped.

When I hit him in the chest, electricity was emitted, shocking the water mage. Consequently, since one of his water tendrils stabbed into my shoulder, the electricity was going to affect me, too.

I brace myself for the pain and muscle spasms, but I feel something else entirely.

I wonder if there was something wrong with the engraved knife I just threw, but I saw the water mage being shocked and electrocuted by my engraved knife.

Instead of feeling hundreds of needles piercing under my skin, I felt an almost mist-like sensation going around my body.

Could this be mana? Is it? No, that can’t be right. At my appraisal ceremony, the head priest confirmed that I didn’t have any magical powers. It must be something else entirely.

Realizing that the electricity was not working on me for some reason, I held the sword Athrun gave me and swung it at the water mage.

I aimed at his leg, planning to amputate his leg because I couldn’t take any chances, and it would stop at least one of them from chasing me.

Cutting off his legs, the water tendril that was stabbed into my left shoulder lost its form, and we both collapsed to the ground.

Getting up as fast as I could, I looked at the water mage, and I saw he was not bleeding like the earth mage when I cut off his arm.

What the hell is he or they?

Not wanting to find out, I began running before he recovered, because there were two mages after me, and I don’t know where the earth mage was.

He is nearby, but I need to get some distance because I'm in no condition to fight. I was practically covered in my own blood, and my left arm was unusable.

Putting back the sword in its sheath, I took out a health potion, uncorked it with my teeth, and splashed half of it on my left shoulder that had a big stab wound, then the rest on my body.

Then, taking out another health potion because I don’t think one would be enough, I gulp it down, trying to ignore the taste, which I found more unpleasant than my body currently screaming at me in pain.

I took another route to where I thought was the direction Boras took Clare, but I began feeling something was off.

My movement… why am I getting slower, and my vision is becoming fuzzy? Is it because of the blood loss from the injuries I’d sustained? Or is it because Sarah’s support spell is wearing off?

I clutch my hand, feeling the grip in my hand, and I realize both were likely the case.

This is not good; I need to be extremely careful from now on.

I stopped running because I sensed the walls filled up with what I think is mana, as spikes shot out of the walls.

I moved my head out of the way as time slowed down, but another spike shot out, and for some reason, I felt something even more wrong with me because even though I don’t have Sarah’s support spell anymore, my movements are becoming even more dull, and my vision even more fuzzy.

Taking out the sword Athrung gave me, I tried moving my body out of the way as time slowed down, but my body was not responding as I wanted it to, even without Sarah’s support spell. So, seeing that I couldn’t dodge, I blocked the tip of the spike with the flat side of the sword. It sent me back flying, and I hit the wall.

Falling on my knees, I use the sword as a crutch to help me get up; however, why is my leg not moving?

What is going on? Looking at my legs to see if there were any wounds, I saw nothing.

In a world where time seemed to slow down, I tried to process what was going on with my body till I heard a pair of footsteps silently landing on the ground.

I turn to look at where the noise came from, and I curse myself for it because it was the Earth Mage Boras had sent to fight me.

With all the strength I could muster, I tried pointing the sword Athrun gave me at him, but to no avail because I saw him place his only hand on the walls of the alley, and I felt energy or mana coming out of him, flowing through the walls and to the ground, toward me.

I couldn’t move or react as spikes shot up from the ground near me and pierced through the palms of my hands, pinning me to the wall behind me.

Desperately, I try to free myself as he takes every step toward me.

Thoughts of the future flash through my mind, where I was dragged back to my family, and where Clare was killed for helping me. I couldn’t let that happen.

I've got to get to Clare, or else everything would have been for nothing. I need to free myself; I need to do something.

Seeing that he was right in front of me with a dagger in his only hand, I slowed down time as much as I could, desperately trying to rip my hands through the spikes to free myself.

However, my struggles were all in vain because I saw, slowly as time slowed down, the hilt of the dagger being brought down on the back of my head.

Goddamnit, goddamnit, goddamnit.

“Hey, umm… What are you doing?”

Hearing that familiar voice, the earth mage stopped just before he hit the back of my head, and we both looked in the direction of the voice.

It was Skis. What is he doing here, and how did he find me?

“Umm… Do you mind letting him go?”

Telling the earth mage that, in an almost timid voice, the earth mage said nothing, focusing his attention on Skis.

I don’t know about Skis’s combat abilities, but I have to warn him because he isn’t a mage.

“Skis, be careful; he’s dangerous.”

Looking surprised and startled from shouting at him that the person who was about to fight him, Skis said meekly.

“I’ll be careful.”

After he said that, his whole demeanor and tone changed suddenly, like a switch was flipped.

“It will only take a moment.”

Projecting a calm and calculating presence, he took out a blue-colored sword from his sheath.

Calmly, like fighting the earth mage was no big deal, he walked slowly to him.

The first to make the first move was the earth mage, in which I sense mana going through the ground toward Skis.

I was about to warn Skis, but he did something unexpected.

Lightly tapping the ground with his sword, I sense the energy going through the ground suddenly stop and disperse.

Seeing that it did not work, he took a step back as Skis continued to walk to him calmly.

“Huh, Nyx, you seem surprised, but oh well, I can explain later.”

As he said that, I sensed the earth mage preparing to cast another spell.

Spike started to shoot out everywhere in the alley, straight for Skis. However, similar to and different from before, he uses his sword to parry the numerous spikes coming out of the ground. Each time his sword touches the spikes shooting out of the ground and walls, they immediately stop once it touches the sword.

What is up with that sword of his? Each time I sense the Earth mage cast a spell, it suddenly stops.

I wasn’t the only one who noticed, but so did the earth mage because he continued to take steps back while Skis calmly walked towards him with the eyes of a predator.

Seeing that it was not working, he was about to retreat and make a run for it; however, by how calmly Skis was, he expected it.

Holding his sword like a javelin, Skis threw it at the earth mage. It hit his back as Skis then continued calmly walking to him.

I sense mana building up inside the earth mage, but that blue sword of his somehow snuffs out whatever mana he is building up.

Now, directly standing behind him, Skis pulled his sword from the earth mage’s back and calmly beheaded him without saying a word.