"You are right." Blake said as a wave of cold air blasted around him. "I will kill that damned beast but I will start with you." He said as he glared at Leila.
"Oh my, looks like it is a failure." Leila said as she threw an indifferent glance at Blake.
"Though you failed, you managed to seriously piss me off. Congratulations." He said as he dropped all acts and immediately attacked Leila. With a wave of his hands, ten icicles appeared above him and were sent flying toward Leila.
"Oh, I’m sorry that I made you angry." She replied with an unapologetic tone as she pointed her staff toward the incoming icicles.
'Mana disruption.' She muttered, then, ripples spread from the tip of her staff, and the icicles were reduced into dust as soon as they came into contact with those ripples.
"Hum, so it started already." Leo said as he saw Leila and Blake exchange the first move. At that moment, the thought of backing out of the agreement with Leila went through his mind but he dismissed it. Why? Because he was sure Blake wouldn’t use the power Leila talked about if he didn’t step out. After all, who would give up on their strongest card before the boss fight? No one. Anyway, it would be counterproductive to let Leila fight him alone. Also, he wasn’t the kind to not keep his promises.
"Let’s go then." He muttered as he used shadow jump and moved toward Blake. In an instant, he appeared behind Blake and swatted him with a swing of his paw.
Bang. Leo’s paw was stopped dead in its track by a massive water wave that suddenly appeared in front of Blake.
'This is going to be a pain.' He thought as he looked at his paw that couldn’t move an inch further and then at Blake who raised his head and looked at him coldly. As he looked at Blake, Leo could instantly feel the change in his aura. If before he was like a calm and frozen lake, now he looks like a violent and tumultuous arctic sea.
"As expected, you and that bitch seemed to have reached an agreement." Blake said as a massive amount of water suddenly appeared around him and rushed toward Leo to entangle him. Had Leo been unaware of Blake’s trump card he may have reacted slowly and gotten caught. Fortunately, it wasn’t the case and he was able to retreat before the massive amount of water crashed and devastated the place where he was before.
'Tsk, he isn’t planning to hold back at all uh.' He muttered as he looked at the ground that was completely crushed and frozen by the attack he just dodged then at Blake who was standing in the middle of dozens of massive water whips wiggling around him like tentacles of a water abomination.
As he saw him stand there like a god, Leo couldn’t help but remember what Leila told him.
All spells below rank B are dubbed static magic and the mage is said to be in the elemental gathering phase. When a rank C casts a spell, there are three steps. First the element gathering, second the spell construction, and finally the launching. Once those steps are completed and the spell is cast, the mage loses all control over his spell. It is like an arrow that has been shot. Once shot, you can’t call it back, you can’t change its direction or its speed, you can’t stop it.
However, once a mage reaches rank B, he enters the elemental manipulation phase and the spells are dubbed dynamic magic. At that level, most spells require active control from the casters, and even skills that didn’t require such a thing could be actively controlled. It stops being like before rank B where magic was all about casting a spell then throwing it. For example, let’s take a fireball. If you dodge a fireball cast by a rank C, you could be considered safe. However, even if you dodge a fireball cast by a rank B, it is far from over. It could suddenly blow up while you are dodging or come back to hit you in the back.
'Hum, it would have been good if my elemental manipulation skill could work that way too. But I guess they aren’t dubbed basic manipulation for nothing.' Leo muttered.
"Hey, be cautious, he is going to go all out from the beginning." Leila woke him from his reverie as she and Celia suddenly appeared beside him.
"You are here, good. He will. Just hop on." Leo said and the two girls sat on his back. As he was the fastest and the strongest of the three, they decided that they would leave the task of dealing with the defense to him. As for the two of them, they would support him from his back.
'I better not let this become a habit or I will end up as a mount.' Leo thought as he activated his shield and wind steps.
"You are just making it easier for me." Blake chuckled as the massive water whips stopped idling around him and descended upon Leo and co to bring the judgment of their master.
"Go." Leo said as he unleashed his full speed without hesitation. At that moment everything else than him seemed to have considerably slowed down and he became able to clearly grasp everything around him. Still, the water whips rushing toward him were incredibly fast and he had to give his all to dodge them. Worse, as they were under the control of Blake, the situation quickly started turning for the worse just like it did with Bel. With each water whips he dodged, another one seemed to already be waiting for him. Was it not for his incredible control over his seed, hooray swift, and the timely intervention of Leila and Celia, he would have been overwhelmed long ago.
'Can’t let this go on.'He muttered as he used his wind manipulation to reproduce one of the skills of the wolf king.
"Wind boundary." He said and a sphere of wind expanded around him and temporarily repelled the water whips.
Making use of that opening, he burst out with a stronger speed and appeared in front of Blake.
However, before he could attack, the water whips he just dodged all exploded and turned into countless ice needles that fell toward him at a speed rivaling his own.
BOOM. Faced with such a threat, Leila and Celia quickly intervened to stop the needles while Leo hastily retreated.
'Luckily, the earth guard could hold on.' Leo muttered as he looked at his shield that was covered in cracks. If it wasn’t for Leila and Celia's intervention, he was sure the shield would have been destroyed and to say that it now has durability equal to 45% of his health and the defense was increased by 35%.
'That means I will be done if I tank two hits like that and let’s not talk about the girl.' He muttered.
"Looks like it’s not a good idea to attack him. What about just running around for the moment?" Celia asked.
"I doubt the stamina of Leo would allow him to go for so long, besides, Blake won’t let us do that." Leila said.
"There is nothing wrong with my stamina." Leo said angrily. "But, you are right, he won’t give us that much freedom."
'Drizzle.' Blake said as a drizzle started falling on the clearing. As Leo looked at the fine rain falling on them, he noticed that each droplet contained an impressive amount of cold energy. As such, under the drizzle, the temperature inside the clearing starts dropping quickly.
"He is setting things for another spell." Leila said as she guessed Blake's intention. After all, a spell-like drizzle was useless in front of them so it could only be a means to facilitate another spell.
"Not going to let him do that.' Celia said as she saw the spell racing toward them and started casting a spell
'…… you are the origin of all life. Keep your daughter in your warmth and protect her from the demon of the night. Fire blessing.' She said as a bright and warm fire started burning with her as the center and created a halo that canceled the effects of the drizzle.
"Good job, Celia." Leo praised.
'Yes, but I can’t do anything else while I keep this spell active." She said apologetically.
"Useless. Frozen graveyard." Blake said and a massive wave of cold air rushed toward them, swallowing everything on its way. Everything the cold air touched was instantly turned into a frozen sculpture devoid of life. In an instant, the clearing that was still full of life turned into a desolate and lifeless ice field.
When that wave of cold air touched the fire halo created by Celia, it only stopped briefly before pushing back the halo and quickly closing in on the team.
"I can’t keep it for long." Celia said as she looked to be struggling against Blake's spell. "I don’t know for you but I will die if that thing touches me." She added seriously.
"Leila, how is it going?" Leo asked.
"Bad. My curses are barely affecting him. And those that work are unable to last." Leila complained.
"Tell me why we are working with you then?" Leo asked exasperatedly.
"At least you don’t have to dea,l with me too. Also I am not useless. I am just waiting for the right moment to act."
"Well, I would have loved to wait before using it too. But I won’t have the choice it seems." Leo grumbled.
'Focus.' He muttered as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
'What is he doing?' Leila wondered.
"Oh my, he had an ace like this after all." She mumbled with astonishment as Leo’s aura surged and reached a level almost equal to Blake’s one.
"Wow." Leo exclaimed as he felt the power rampaging through his body. "And to say I was proud before." He muttered as he opened his eyes.
"Let’s go for round two then."
Telling the girls to go for round two
Thank you for the chapter.