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In …

Out…

In …

Out…

Taking slow steady breaths Nour breathed in time with the beat of his heart as he sat closed eyed and cross legged on the floor of his chambers. 

At this  moment his full attention was focused on the happenings inside his body as he once again attempted to breakthrough to the Great Mage rank

This was his 7th attempt this week and suffice to say he was extremely close to breaking through.

‘Almost…there…’

Suddenly he felt his mana pool tremble as a large section of it began to rapidly be used up. Then he heard, no, rather felt the force of something hitting the magical barrier protecting his villa.

‘What the- What’s going on?! An attack? Who dares?!’

Jumping to his feet, Nour fought to calm his turbulent mana pool just as another chunk of it was extinguished along with a section of his villa’s barrier. 

By this point Nour was now sure he was under attack but he had no idea who would be bold enough to attempt such a thing.

Nour pushed his questions to the back of his mind for now as he hurriedly ran to the courtyard of his villa to see what was going on. 

He’d noticed a strangely powerful aura near the area where the barrier broke and he had a feeling it was the assailant(s). 

On the way there he was pleased to see most of the bodyguards and the few men he had stationed inside were already following protocol and taking defensive positions. 

He himself had been a bit late in reacting to this attack but luckily he had trained his men well.

Once Nour made it to the back courtyard where he’d vaguely  sensed the increasingly powerful aura, he caught sight of two 3 meter wide menacing fireballs hurtling towards him.

It was at that moment that Nour instinctually summoned his full peak Intermediate mage cultivation and casted his Rank II ‘Ice Lance’ spell model.

The surrounding temperature of the courtyard rapidly plummeted as a sparkling and spiked lance made of ice formed in his grasp before the two approaching fireballs.

“Break for me!” yelled Nour as he launched the 2 meter long lance at the nearest fireball.

With startling accuracy the Ice Lance impaled the fireball before both exploded in a burst of steam. 

Without a second to waste Nour tried to quickly summon a second Ice Lance before he rethought the idea

‘Fuck! My mana pool still hasn’t recovered fully yet. I need to save my strength’

Instead opting to dodge the attack, Nour barrel rolled to the left just as the second fireball impacted and set the courtyard and rear end of his villa ablaze.

Through the haze of the steam created by the two earlier elemental attacks colliding, Nour’s eyes contracted as he gazed at the approaching enemy.

“Mars?! You’re courting death!”

At that moment the 90 or so men that Nour had on site in his villa had begun to spill out into the courtyard just as Mars’s men finally arrived from the treeline. 

It was clear that a battle was to break out at any moment as each side’s men found their respective combat positions.

“The only one dying here tonight Is you Nour” gloated Mars as the tendrils of scarlet flames on his hands began to snake up his arms, “you’re not the only soon to be Great Mage in town anymore”

Shock quickly crossed Nour’s face before he quickly suppressed it.

“Hmph! Power up or not you’re still no match for me. Bring me their heads!”

With a battle cry Nour’s body erupted into an icy aura as he summoned two Ice Lances before charging towards Mars. 

Simultaneously the troops on both sides threw caution to the wind and launched their own attacks after seeing their own leaders doing so.

“Charge!”

“Let’s crush them! Destroy them all!”

The battle had begun.

Immediately Nour and Mars rapidly exchanged blows so fiercely that magical sparks seemed to fly here and there. 

While Nour opted to battle with his two ice lances in both hands, Mars chose to match his might with magic as he used his pure fire power.

Their men fought just as fiercely as one after another was either stabbed, shot, or beheaded. 

And though Nour’s men were outnumbered they fought on equal grounds against Mars’ men. This was probably due to the fact that while the Blackthorn mercenaries were more numerous, the Coldwind mercenaries had more skilled members and a few weaker mages.

Nonetheless the fact remained that mere minutes after the battle started the ground was dyed completely red.

Ambrose utilized his nature attribute spell ‘Root Frenzy’ to the best of his ability to ensnare and impale some enemies before falling back. 

This was the bloodiest battle he’d ever been in and he suddenly realized he might be over his head.

“No survivors!”

“Off with his head!”

As bodies on both sides piled up more and more, the tides of the battle seemed to shift in the favor of the Coldwind mercenaries.

 Nour, now down to one badly chipped Ice Lance, had managed to stab Mars in the thigh, forcing the Blackthorn leader to bended knee.

“Face it! You’re outmatched and outclassed ha ha ha” gloated Nour as he stood over Mars triumphantly, “perhaps if you swear fealty to me I’ll think about sparing your life. That goes to your men too! If you drop your weapons and your false leader to join me, all of your transgressions can be forgiven!”

All of a sudden, a thick and heavy silence soon encompassed the battleground.

At first it appeared no one was going to take up Nour’s offer as several seconds passed without any changes. 

Then unexpectedly Ambrose stepped aside from where he was before walking across the battlefield to stand next to Nour.

“I swear fealty” he said as he dropped to one knee

“Traitor! I knew you’d betray me one day” screamed Mars

“Shut up! You threw away all of our lives when you planned this mass suicide. I won’t die alone with you bastard” coldly stated Ambrose to his former co-leader.

After Ambrose’s defection to the other side, several more members also left the Blackthorn mercenaries ranks to join the enemy.  

Most were the newer members they’d recruited, and the loss still hurt Mars more than he’d care to admit, but he was at least glad that he knew he could trust his men who didn’t defect wholeheartedly now.

“Ha ha ha how could you, a frog in the well ever match my greatness?! You should just die for me now, any final words worm?” offered Nour triumphantly

Suddenly all eyes turned to Mars as everyone waited to see what his next move would be.

Would he swear fealty?

Or would he choose to die with his pride?

“I won’t ask agai-”

“Yeah yeah, just two actually…. now master!”

With the fate of the battle hanging in the balance Mars chose to enact the next and final stage of he and Lucy’s plans.

‘Took you long enough’ Lucy transmitted telepathically.

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