The whistles of 24 coordinated blade strikes permeated the air as the templars dropped on Kilian. At first, as if suppressed by the gravitational pressure, Kilian made no move. But as the energy blades neared his form, he raised his right hand, causing the might of 30% of his dra to erupt in a sky-blue energy shield.

*CLANG*

Faster than their subordinates, the six High Templars struck first, the following 18 Core Templars's blows rained immediately afterward. 24 blades collided with the shield at full force, but unlike Olaf's cannons, though they bounced against the shield, the blades left thin cracks on its surface.

Still restraining himself to 30% of his abilities, Kilian stretched out his hands, mending the shield's cracks, and making it expand across a 15 meters radius. Undeterred, the 42 templars aimed their energy knives at it, and the 42 blades expanded in brutal knife-shaped beams that slammed into Kilian's shield from all sides.

*BANG*

Unable to withstand the assault, Kilian's shield collapsed in glass-like energy pieces. But while the 30 Core Templars' knife-beams didn't outlive the shield, the 12 High Templars' carried on unimpeded, still aiming for Kilian's life.

The Desolate Knives showed no conceit. Their six leaders scrutinized Kilian's every move, ready to trigger an arrow shot at the first given opening. All blows aimed for his life, leaving his survival to his skills or fate.

Unfettered by the gravitational suppression, Kilian vanished, reappeared behind Lena and Jezebel, and hurled them both out of the knife-beams range. The beams' trajectories changed, immediately adjusting to nail Kilian.

"Bone Cocoon," Kilian whispered, dozens of spike-like bones protruded from his flesh, expanded, and spiraled to form a bone cocoon that challenged the twelve knife-beams!

*BOOM*

In a ringing blast, the knife-beams clashed with the cocoon, but failed to leave the tiniest dent. Before this eldritch scene, the six High Emissaries' faces twisted into frowns.

"According to our data, he's capable of minor fleshcrafting. Although we'd expected that his potency in the craft would far surpass what he showed before the cultists, this still goes far beyond our best estimations. Could this be a result of fehl mutation?" The apparent leader wondered. A brief examination showed that Kilian's bone cocoon was not only harder than diamond, but stronger than titanium, a dreadful combination even in the eyes of those experienced magi.

Even their armors that could easily withstand 40 mm bullets without recoil didn't appear that resilient. But if the first time wasn't enough, what about the second one?

In tacit understanding, the 42 templars sheathed their knives, and stretched out their hands toward Kilian. Dark purple circles glittered amidst their palms while light particles gathered in purple orbs. Dozens of energy orbs aimed at Kilian's immobile form, ready to blast his defenses into smithereens.

*BANG*

The apparent leader gave the signal, and 42 dazzling, dark-purple beams fired at Kilian's cocoon, blasting it in a thunderous explosion of berserk forces. Clouds of dust rose into the night sky, but equipped with night vision, the Desolate Knives' eyes looked beyond the clouds to stare at Kilian's remains.

Of Kilian's striking form, only the cocoon's bone debris remained.

"So what if the cocoon provides you with extraordinary defenses? If you can't move, what's the point? A pity that we couldn't bring the body b-" The leader began, initially believing in Kilian's destruction. Alas, the sound of a drill piercing through the ground echoed from underneath his crotch, and his eyes widened in fright.

Tapping in his strongest reflexes, the apparent leader attempted to leap out of harm's way—a futile move. A massive, swirling bone drill nailed the man's crotch and tore through his power armor to tear him into two gruesome parts.

Another dust cloud surged as a figure clad in bone armor emerged, and slammed the massive bone-drills that now replaced his arms into the nearest two High Emissaries.

A step faster, they stomped their feet, triggering a minor explosion as they leaped out of Kilian's reach—retreating alongside the bow.

Kilian nimbly landed on the ground, standing between the fallen leader's two body parts.

Instantly, confusion broke out among the Desolate Knife troops.

"Why...why couldn't we sense his displacement?" The remaining High Emissaries and templars wondered in puzzlement. Pouncing on the opportunity, Lena made her move.

"Second Circle Spell: Explosive Step!" Propelled by an explosion akin to the one displayed by the High Emissaries, Lena directly appeared amidst a group of six Core Templars, her green eyes shone with a callous glint, and she smashed her balled fists into the ground!

"Third Circle Spell: Terrestrial Blast!"

*BANG*

Cracks spread across several meters, orange light surged from them, shafting into the sky as Lena's fehl dra erupted in a barbaric explosion. The explosion swallowed the closest six Core Templars, sending them hurtling across the air to tumble several meters away from Lena. Instantly, two High Templars appeared at her right and left, lowering their bared energy knives on either side of her neck.

*ZZZZZZ*

But before their blades could reach her rosy white flesh, the grating sound of two drills echoed from their backs, and Kilian's drills tore through their helmets and brains. Without turning back, Lena glided between his legs, whirled into the air, and dropped on two other Core Templars.

"Third Circle Spell: Hellfire Claws!"

Lena's hands turned into dark-purple, flaming claws and hacked at the two templars' necks, tearing through their armors, but failing to properly gash their throats—it mattered not.

Dark-purple flames burst from the two's scratch marks, setting them ablaze even while their armors melted at a slow pace. A Combination Element of fire and darkness, hellfire's primary advantage was its relentless persistence.

Not only did the flames possess extraordinary potency, but extinguishing required tremendous efforts.

The two templars had barely begun screaming, that the flames calcined the life out of them. Without catching her breath, Lena moved on two other targets. The Core Templars weren't her match and the High Templars dared not approach—less they suffered Kilina retaliation.

Thus, in a flash, three more Core Templars lost their lives.

In desperation, a High Templar attempted to rush toward Jezebel and take her hostage, unaware that all along, Lena had been awaiting such a move.

Her dra burned to the limit, she turned into a ball of orange flames, and like a meteor, barreled into the templar.

*BANG*

Slammed by a brutal explosion, he flew across the sky and landed on one of Kilian's drills—skewering himself to death.

One High Emissary, three High Templars, 11 Core Templars, in an instant, the Desolate Knives had lost 15 men, 30% of their effective. And yet, that one arrow that carried the highest threat didn't fire.

As they wondered why the bow's true master had yet to make its move, sweat soaked the five High Emissaries' foreheads.

"What is his excellency waiting for?"

"We can't waste time trying to figure out his thoughts. That Kilian's strength isn't much higher than ours. Without the element of surprise, he couldn't have killed the vice-captain.

Gather the remaining templars in a circle, and let's go for a joint assault! Suppress him, and the battle is over!" The new "leader" ordered, and with the communication chip in his helmet, gathered the 28 remaining templars in a new formation.

"Third Circle Spell: Desolate Will!" The five emissaries' lips parted in incantations, 15 red circles appeared at their side, rotating while the spell kicked into gear. But unlike the likes of Klaus, their incantation speed was far too low, requiring at least five seconds to complete a third circle spell.

The 28 templars raised their left hands, causing large, dark-blue shields to sprout from their gauntlets. Bending in a shield wall, the templars stood ready for Kilian's assault. Dark-purple energies surged from their shields, forming a protective screen before the nefarious foe.

As if deterred by the shield, Kilian made no additional move.

The intensity of the five emissaries' auras tripled, boosting their strength, speed, and resilience. Desolate magic belonged to the Unique Disciplines, and was the only one whose every spell siphoned the magus' lifespan instead of dra.

One third circle spell required 10 years of lifespan, making prolonged use of this discipline a suicidal path.

With their Desolate Will, in exchange for 10 years of life, the emissaries obtained thrice their battle power for 15 minutes. A sacrifice they'd only resort to in extreme circumstances.

"Third Circle Spell: Dark Hand!" The five began casting their second spell. But beneath his bone helmet, Kilina's lips curved into a fiendish grin, and he aimed his right drill at the energy shield.

In that instant, the 28 templars were startled to see their shields malfunction, and the energy screen dissipate!

Before they could register the change and comprehend its origins, Kilian vanished, and reappeared before two of the High Emissaries. Driving his drills in forward thrusts, Kilian tore past the armors and skewered their hearts, killing them in a single blow.

"Rule of thumb, if your spellcasting takes more than one second—don't cast spells," Kilian chortled, yanked his drills free of the two's chests, and turned to face the remaining three.

Interrupting their casting, they leaped back and raised energy shields to secure their retreat. Splitting focus to maintain energy shields while spellcasting not only lengthened the casting process and increased dra cost, but also required masterful control.

Therefore, they left that job to the templars—unaware that Kilian now possessed the means to throw their technology into chaos.

---
[Name: Kilian]
[Race: Human Fehl Mutant]
[Age: 18]
[Magus Rank: top-level Lesser Emissary]
[Battle Prowess: Quasi Archon]
[Dra Reserves: 15,200]
[Knowledge Points: 631]
[Implants: Lv. 1 Cyberkinesis Chip]
[Mutation: Stage II Eye of Fehl]
[Innate Abilities: Eye of Distortion, Eye of Revelation]
[Unique Disciplines: Lv. 3 Fleshcrafting<>Lv. 3 Transmutation]
---

With that Cyberkinesis Chip, unless the High Emissaries put their mind and energies to stopping him, Kilian could take control of even their armors. However, he refrained.

The reason soon revealed itself.

As Kilian pursued one of the last three High Emissaries and shattered his defenses to drill a hole through his brain, a whistling sound echoed—and the arrow finally left its string to slam into Kilian's temple!

Twisting his head 360, Kilian let the arrow fly past him, leaving a dent in his bone helmet before landing in a distant tree.

A violent explosion followed.

But even as Kilian recoiled, the blood of the fallen, templars and emissaries alike trickled toward a single source, drawing a massive glyph as they went. Dark-purple energies surged from the glyph, releasing an explosion of pure occultic forces that shot toward the night sky in a dark-purple column of light.

As if it'd already calculated his landing trajectory, the spell triggered right underneath Kilian's feet, embroiling him in the horrible surge of occultic forces. But as the ritual circle blasted Kilian up in the air, a cloaked figure appeared in the sky, dropping alongside hundreds of black spears!

"Hahahaha, I got you. You can surrender your life!

Fourth Circle Spell: Shadow Rain!" A hoarse voice thundered from beneath the cloak, and hundreds of shadow spears rained from the sky to skewer Kilian!

But in the instant they neared his form, Kilian's lips curled into a maniacal grin, and he vanished in the dark-purple space gash he kept concealed between his back and the dark-purple column!

Another rift opened right behind the new entrant, with Kilian emerging not in bone armor, but in a staggering obsidian energy armor that made a mockery of his foes' gears!

The full might of Kilian's dra erupted, going from 30% to 100% while a massive orb of sky-blue energies formed between his extending hands.

"That's my line," Kilian replied, and the full force of his dra exploded in a gargantuan energy blast!

With no time to resist, the leader took it point-blank!