Overwhelming Firepower

The ground started shaking uncontrollably. The very second Lucen felt it, he already knew what was about to happen next.

’This guy is finally planning to use his pseudo-immortality against us.’ Lucen clicked his tongue as he shouted.

”Everyone retreat! Robert freeze him!”

The second they heard the command, no one hesitated as they already knew what was bout to happen. Robert threw all the vials that he created that could freeze the enemy.

The Lich that was concentrating on his actions did not dodge the attacks and got himself hit by the vials and was frozen, but that did not stop the collapse.

Eisen raised both hands. The cracked stone above them stopped falling for a moment. Several enormous pieces of the ceiling remained suspended in the air, surrounded by dense layers of mana.

Alexander, Cael, Ryan, and Nina immediately ran toward the tunnel they had used to enter the chamber. Mina retrieved her spear before following them. Catherine fired both revolvers at several falling stones, breaking them apart before they could strike the group.

Harlik moved beside the other two mages, raising his towering shield over Robert and Mireya. A stone the size of his head struck the shield.

Everyone was running as fast as they could while evading the falling rocks. ’At this pace, we might not get halfway through before getting buried alive.’

Lucen clicked his tongue as he started to think about whether he should use his strongest move to blast upward, but after using that, he would be barely able to keep fighting.

Another violent tremor passed through the tunnel. They had barely reached the stone doors when a few more huge stones came falling.

Sir Thalos stepped forward and punched one of them. The stone shattered upon contact with his fist.

’Damn it... If we continue this way, the only one who might survive might be Sir Thalos. I have no choice, I need to use my strongest move and blow up everything.’

As Lucen was about to unleash his strongest attack to get out of their current situation, Sir Thalos shouted at them.

”Everyone! Use your aura mantles, your barriers, anything you can use to protect your bodies, and follow close behind me. I’ll make a path!”

Sir Thalos’s aura mantle burst out like a blazing sun surrounding him.

The pressure alone forced the dust away from his body. Cracks spread beneath his feet as the aura compressed around his enormous frame, covering his muscles and bones like a second body.

Everyone immediately understood what he intended to do.

Lucen’s white aura mantle surged around him like snow caught in a violent storm. Elyra’s blazing red aura erupted next, followed by the mantles of Alexander, Cael, Mina, Nina, Ryan, and Harlik.

Mireya, Robert, and Catherine formed several barriers around themselves. Eisen continued holding the collapsing ceiling above them.

Sir Thalos lowered his body, and then he moved. The sound of his movement was explosive.

The ground where he had been standing exploded. He crossed the remaining distance toward the stone doors in an instant and drove his fist into their center.

The enormous doors shattered. Hundreds of stone fragments flew into the tunnel beyond, but Sir Thalos did not slow down. His aura pushed the debris away from his body as he charged directly into the darkness.

The others followed closely behind him. Another tremor passed through the lair. The ceiling ahead collapsed. Thousands of stones fell into the passage, completely sealing the route to the surface.

Sir Thalos pulled back his fist. The blazing aura surrounding him gathered around his arm. For a moment, the light became so intense that his fist resembled a burning furnace. He then punched forward with all his might. The impact produced a deafening explosion.

The wall of fallen stone burst apart. The shock wave travelled through the entire blockage, reducing the rocks directly ahead of him to fragments before launching everything else deeper into the tunnel.

A path opened. Sir Thalos charged through it before the surrounding stone could fall back into place.

Eisen moved both hands. The scattered debris stopped in the air. He forced the pieces against the sides of the tunnel, temporarily reinforcing the unstable walls while the others passed beneath them.

Harlik remained near the center of the formation. His towering shield covered them whenever Eisen was unable to stop a falling stone.

Catherine ran beside them. Both revolvers roared repeatedly as she shattered smaller rocks before they could strike anyone.

Lucen stayed near the rear, ready to react to anything that might happen. Behind them, the frozen shell surrounding Aleister finally cracked.

The sound reached Lucen even through the destruction shaking the lair. Dark mana poured through the tunnel they had left behind, followed by a violent explosion that scattered fragments of ice and stone in every direction. Aleister was moving again.

Sir Thalos continued charging at the front. Whenever the tunnel collapsed, his fists moved.

Each strike created a thunderous explosion. Walls of stone shattered before him, while his blazing aura mantle forced the fragments away from his enormous frame. He did not waste time clearing the entire passage. He only created an opening large enough for everyone to pass through.

The group ran through every path he made before the surrounding stone collapsed again.

The deeper parts of the lair had been built from enormous blocks of reinforced stone, but even those could not withstand Sir Thalos’s advance. Cracks spread from every punch, joining together until entire sections burst apart.

The group could finally see the moonlight up ahead, but they also felt the chilling hand of death from behind. The Lich was chasing after them at incredible speed.

Dark mana rushed through the passage like a freezing wind. Lucen looked over his shoulder.

Aleister moved through the collapsing tunnel without slowing. The sharpened black bones extending from his wrists pierced the walls and pulled him forward, allowing him to fly through the narrow, collapsing tunnel with even greater speed. Falling stones struck his back and shoulders, but he ignored them completely.

Seeing as no matter what hits him, the Lich was able to regenerate by absorbing the surrounding mana. So he doesn’t bother defending anymore. Lucen needed to slow him down a bit before he reached them.

Lucen used gun creation and made a rifle; he fired several shots behind him using ice imbued bullets to slow down the Lich.

The first bullet struck Aleister’s shoulder. Ice spread across his bones, locking his arm against his ribs.

The second struck the center of his chest. Frost crawled through the cracks in his rib cage and covered several of the glowing markings carved across them.

The third bullet exploded directly in front of him. A cloud of freezing mist swallowed Aleister. Layers of ice rapidly formed across his skull, spine, and limbs, encasing most of his body.

It could not stop his flight completely. Dark mana continued dragging him through the air, but his movements became slower as he forced his frozen joints to move.

Cracks spread across the ice. Aleister would break free within seconds. That was enough time for them to escape above ground.

Sir Thalos broke through the final wall. The group was now bathed in moonlight as the cold night air struck their faces.

They rushed into the clearing. Eisen waited until everyone crossed the entrance before releasing the stones he had been holding.

The tunnel collapsed behind them. A deafening roar came from beneath the mountain. The ground sank as cracks spread across the clearing. Trees tilted before disappearing into the widening gaps.

”Move farther away!” Lucen shouted.

No one stopped. They continued running until they reached the forest. Only then did Sir Thalos stop running and deactivate his aura mantle.

He was breathing a little erratically and was sweating quite a bit; this was the first time Lucen had seen Sir Thalos this tired. Still, they had no choice; right now, the battle was not over.

”Everyone, get ready!”

The collapsed entrance began to tremble, and in a burst, came out the Lich flying into the night sky, surrounded by his dark mana. His burning blue flames for eyes locked onto Lucen’s group.

”The game of cat and mouse is over. It is time for you all to die!” The Lich pointed his finger at Lucen’s group as dark green light came bursting out; he had used disintegrate. The green ray crossed the clearing in an instant.

”Scatter!” Lucen shouted.

The group had seen the Lich use that move several times in the battle against Lucen and understood that getting hit by that almost meant instant death.

The ray tore through the space they had occupied and erased the trees behind them.

Lucen rolled across the grass and raised his rifle. Around him, the others recovered and spread through the forest, using the trees as cover.

Aleister watched them from above, then he raised his remaining hand. Dark green lights appeared around his body, one after another, until dozens surrounded him like stars.

Lucen screamed. ”Everyone, keep dodging!”

Aleister lowered his finger. The night turned green.