Trinity of Magic

Zeke slowly rose from his crouch, trying to ignore the pain from his charred limb. The injury was healing, but far slower than normal.

The residual Fire Mana was continuously invading his body, eroding his skin. For him, that merely slowed his healing. For anyone without strong self-healing capabilities, the effect alone would likely be enough to consume their entire body over time.

The woman continued to watch his movements with that same slow, predatory gaze. It was as if nothing else existed besides him.

That made no sense.

Behind him, Vulcanos was still evolving. That was the sole reason Zeke had dared to take such a desperate gamble in the first place. The woman in front of him should have been able to feel it, at least partially.

But her actions showed the exact opposite. Ever since he had appeared, she seemed to have forgotten about everything else.

Zeke met her gaze steadily. Whatever the reason, he was glad to have bought Vulcanos some time. But the crisis was far from over. The evolution would take minutes, which was far longer than he could hold out.

No. That was overestimating himself. Even if the woman had been alone, he couldn’t stall her for half that time. But she wasn’t alone.

In that instant, the flames raging among her troops flickered out as if they had never existed. It was instant, like a flame deprived of all oxygen. Zeke’s gaze traveled to the [Feuerkranz] hovering above her head.

The spell gave her the power to control all flames in her vicinity. It was this exact ability that allowed the Feuerkranz family to stand at the pinnacle of all Fire Mages.

Behind her, the troops quickly closed ranks.

Zeke frowned.

Despite the size of the impact, the damage her attack had caused to her own people was minimal. Part of that was because she had extinguished the flames so quickly. The bigger reason, however, was the innate resistance all Mages had toward their own element.

Flames wouldn’t hurt a Fire Mage nearly as much as they would anyone else.

Sweat gathered along Zeke’s brow, and it wasn’t simply due to the heat of the flames.

If they attacked him in earnest, how long would he be able to hold? Ten seconds? Less?

Should he… run after all?

He wasn’t proud of the thought, but the practical side of his mind wouldn’t allow him to deny the possibility. If he simply died without achieving anything, it wouldn’t help anybody but his enemies.

If it had been anyone else behind him, Zeke would have honestly considered it.

But this was Vulcanos.

How many times had the Chimeroi put himself between Zeke and danger? How many times had he taken the brunt of Zeke’s foolishness in the past?

To leave him behind now, in the one moment where Vulcanos was most vulnerable, felt like a betrayal on such a fundamental level that Zeke couldn’t bring himself to consider it seriously.

The Archmage took a step forward, her men following on her heels in perfect sync.

“Do you know who I am?” she asked.

Zeke’s eyes flicked from her face to the burning wreath hovering over her head. She was clearly a Feuerkranz, but the question indicated that there had to be more to her identity. If Akasha had been with him, she could likely have told him more.

“No,” he answered directly.

His gut told him that this wasn’t the time for flippant answers, not if he wanted to live for more than a few more seconds.

“I expected as much,” she said, still stepping closer.

The distance between them had shrunk to less than a dozen steps.

Zeke forced himself not to retreat. If she wanted to talk, then he would let her. Every word was another heartbeat bought for Vulcanos.

“But I’m confident you know my brother,” she said, her eyes flickering with an eerie light.

She came to a halt not more than an arm’s length away from him. At this distance, Zeke could see her face in great detail.

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Something about her features struck him then. The shape of her eyes. The line of her jaw. That expression.

“After all,” she said slowly. “It was you who killed him.”

Zeke felt his mouth go dry. No wonder this woman seemed to hate him so much. He also didn’t have to wonder for long who her brother was. Now that he compared them directly, the resemblance was unmistakable.

“Baldwin,” he said.

“That’s right. Baldwin is…” She caught herself, and for the first time, the smoothness in her voice fractured. “Was my older brother.”

Zeke remembered that fight vividly. Baldwin Feuerkranz had been the first Archmage he had faced after entering the war. That battle had taken everything he had. David, Raileh, himself, and all his troops had worked together just to bring the man down. And even then, Baldwin had almost managed to take Zeke with him through his final spell.

“He was a tough opponent,” Zeke said.

This was not mere flattery. The spell Baldwin had released at the end was something Zeke remembered vividly, even today. It had been the first time he had truly thought it a waste to kill such a powerful enemy.

The woman snorted. “Baldwin was never much of a fighter. He enjoyed spending time in the lab far more than in the field. That’s why I arranged for him to participate in simple cleanup operations. Nothing dangerous. Just rounding up some dregs in the outer regions.”

Her eyes blazed. “So imagine my surprise when I learned of his death.”

Zeke didn’t say anything. He simply stared at her for a long moment.

“So what?” he asked eventually. “Do you expect me to feel remorse for killing him?”

He straightened his spine and rose to his full height. He towered over the Archmage before him by more than a head. He met her venomous gaze with a mocking expression.

“When I met him, your innocent, scholarly brother was hunting down civilians and burning them alive.”

The woman glared up at him. For a moment, there was only silence, and Zeke could practically see the hatred building in her eyes.

“I don’t give a single fuck if you feel remorse or not,” she hissed. “But I’ll make damn sure you regret it. In fact, regret is all I’ll allow you to keep.”

Zeke felt it before he saw it. The spike in temperature. There had been no incantation, no warning. In one moment, there was air. In the next, there was only fire.

It took a while for even the pain to register. But when it did, it became immediately unbearable. This wasn’t like touching a flame. It was being trapped inside an oven. The flames didn’t lick at his skin so much as burrow into it, like malevolent insects feeding on flesh.

The pain was among the worst he had ever experienced, and yet his charred lips still pulled into a smile. With his increased perception, he could have dodged the attack, but he hadn’t. This woman wanted to hurt him. She wanted to make him suffer for what he had done to her brother. That was why she was holding back. That was why he was still alive.

And Zeke accepted it. It was the very reason he had provoked her in the first place. If this pain was the price he had to pay to buy time, then he would accept it gladly.

A few minutes of agony was a small price to pay for Vulcanos’ life.

Five seconds passed. Ten. Thirty.

By then, the pain was already beginning to dull as the nerve endings beneath his skin burned away. The fine layer of draconic scales under his skin had held up much longer than he had expected, prolonging his suffering. But now, even that last resistance had been burned away.

His eyes had been consumed long ago, alongside the soft tissue of his face. At this moment, he was truly blind. Neither sight nor touch remained, and all he could hear was the sizzling of his own flesh. The only sense left to him was his spatial perception, but even that was smothered by the sheer amount of Mana in the flames around him.

Suddenly, the fire died down.

The world came into focus again. He had fallen to his knees at some point.

He heard snickering and laughter from up ahead.

“…Is this really the so-called genius?”

“…That’s the Blood Dragon?”

“…Looks like meat to me.”

“…Serves the traitor right.”

Clearly, the troops following the Archmage found great amusement in his pitiful state.

But the Archmage remained quiet. Zeke could sense that she was looking at him. However, instead of satisfaction, there was a frown on her face.

Through his spatial perception, he captured her movements in detail. Slowly, her eyes left his figure and traveled upward.

To where Vulcanos was.

Alarm bells went off in Zeke’s mind. She must have noticed something was up. If she chose to switch targets now, everything would have been in vain.

Commanding the Blood in his body, Zeke made himself rise.

His movement immediately drew everyone’s attention, silencing even the troops.

Zeke once again rose to his full height. It was the exact same position he had stood in before. Once again, he was looking down on the woman before him, even though there were no eyes left to see her with.

“Am…” The word came out choked and broken. Nonetheless, Zeke continued. “Am… I… supposed… to… regret… it… already…?”

There was no flesh left on his face to grin with, but Zeke still tried his best to smile at her.

The Archmage frowned.

“What are you scheming?” she asked directly. “You’re throwing your life away to protect a mere beast.”

Zeke concentrated the healing energy of his blood on his face and neck. It was crude, forced, and incomplete, but enough. A moment later, his eyes regrew, followed by the skin on his cheeks, his lips, and his vocal cords.

“If you really want me to tell you,” Zeke said, twisting his newly regrown lips into a smirk, “how about you make me?”

Instead of growing angry or lashing out like he had hoped, the woman’s gaze intensified. Her eyes flicked from his face to the area behind him. To where Vulcanos was.

She hesitated only for a moment before making up her mind. “Kill the Chimeroi,” she ordered. “Leave this kid to me.”

The troops answered in unison, locking onto Vulcanos in the distance.

Zeke’s eyes turned sharp in an instant. He had hoped to buy more time before they caught on. But now, the ruse was up. All he could do was cause as much damage as possible in the hope of crippling them or diverting their attention.

Zeke was already preparing to use his [Sanguine Clarity] at full power again when he sensed something at the edge of his perception.

One. Two. Three. Twenty. Thirty…

Countless numbers of them.

In the next moment, screams erupted from all around.

The Archmage, who had stood no more than an arm’s length before him, suddenly threw herself back, just in time to avoid a massive shape descending from the heavens.

Zeke blinked, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Golden wings. Golden scales. A grotesque, melting appearance.

The Golden Shade stood before him.

The Hive had descended.