After the Eternal Light spell cleared some of the effects of the active Sandstorm, Master Blood Armor saw Baron Bones hit the ground wounded. The Necromancer staggered to his feet, activating a powerful spell from his magic cloak, sacrificing the flesh and soul of the dying giant and the weakest apprentice of the Order of Sages. Afterward, he quickly recovered from his injuries and began using the Special Relic to try to bring Zima out of his rage.
Blood Armor, realizing it was too late to save Greed, who Rafael had just decapitated, stretched the tentacles of his living armor and grabbed the crazed Golden from the sky, bringing him back to the ground beside him. He then ran with him to the barrier, awaiting Rafael's attack.
But to his surprise, the Red Sage didn't go toward the frail Golden, nor the barrier, but toward Blood Mage Zima.
***
Rafael dodged the furious Bloodmage's physical attacks and thrust his sword into her heart, but that wasn't enough to kill her. In that moment of danger, clarity shone in Zima's eyes, allowing her to recover from the effects of Taunt, and for a split second, she also escaped the influence of Baron Bones' Special Relic.
Realizing the dire situation she was in, she cried out in despair:
"WAIT, RED SAGE!"
But Rafael ignored her pleas and pulled the sword from her heart, severing her head.
The life energy of Zima's long-lived race flowed into the jewel on her forehead, and the system announced that the energy was at 99%.
"Still 1% left?"
At that moment, Rafael's eyes turned extremely cold, and his gaze shifted to the last surviving apprentice of the Order: the Red Leader. At that moment, he was still running toward him, furious.
With cruel eyes, Rafael acted for the first time like a true, cold-blooded Bloodmage.
"Advanced Spell: Great Quagmire!"
Master Blood Armor, who had been running toward him after Zima's murder, sank deep into the quagmire, his heavy body still carrying Golden, as did the apprentice Red Leader.
Rafael ran quickly through the quagmire as if it were normal ground and finally took the Red Leader's life in a cold, calculating manner. If he had done this from the beginning with these apprentices, he would have prevented Baron Bones's strange recovery…
[The life energy accumulated in the Essence Gem has reached 100%!]
[The race-changing ritual can begin!]
"Pow!"
"Ahh"
Before Rafael could do anything, Blood Armor, who should have been stuck in the mud, struck him in the back, using his powerful body, covered in hard, resilient living armor, in a high-speed sprint, making him feel as if he'd been hit by a truck.
Rafael was nearly thrown against the barrier, spitting blood and feeling his vision blur. He watched the system announcements confirming that his spine had suffered a minor but serious injury, and several ribs and bones had been broken. His ears were ringing, and he could barely stand now that his Regeneration had reached its daily limit.
He turned and saw that Blood Armor had emerged from the mud, altering the shape of his armor's feet to move freely through the mud. That strange shoulder strike he used also seemed to be another innate spell… Perhaps some kind of "sprint"?
"System, if the race change process is accelerated, how long would I need to wait for it to be completed?"
[At least 5 minutes without moving…]
"Damn it, how could I not move for 5 minutes?"
In that tense moment, where things seemed dire for Rafael, all the survivors on the battlefield felt a chill followed by a terrible pressure in their souls, and saw the shadow of a huge humanoid, easily two or three times the size of the northern giant, appear outside the barrier.
Due to the barrier's opacity, no one could discern its true appearance, but the shadow seemed to hold some kind of weapon in its hands, and in a swift movement befitting its size, it struck the mighty barrier with enormous force.
"BOOM!"
"CRACK"
"CRACK"
In a single blow, dozens of cracks appeared in the mighty barrier, shocking Masters Baron Bones and Blood Armor. Their attention turned to the possible ally who had come to save the Red Sage.
Master Baron Bones became furious and shouted:
"WHO IS IT?"
But the only response he received was another loud knock on the powerful barrier, widening the cracks even further…
Rafael didn't care who had arrived. Taking advantage of his enemies' distraction, he launched another Sandstorm to hide, and used a spell to bury himself under nearly 30 meters of earth, before creating several stone coffins around him and giving the final order for the system to begin the ritual of his racial change…
As soon as it all began, the red gem on Rafael's forehead glowed intensely, exuding an energy full of vitality, causing several veins to appear on his forehead and begin to spread throughout his body. His completely black eyes began to lose their darkness, returning to their normal red pupils, before changing again and becoming violet, and finally becoming light brown, human eyes. At that exact moment, a red mist emanating from the gem on his forehead appeared, covering his entire body and forming a strange, blood-red cocoon.
[Beginning Race Change ritual…]
[Time remaining until completion 4:59…]
****
Special thanks to Patreons:
Sage's Supporter: Jan, Vinnie, frimorigo, Parsa, Scott Robertson, and Pato Senalima!
Magic Apprentice: Axel Bour, Gabriele Sulpizio, Takatchi, mandeep singh, Austin, Kobe Robertson, Paul Gaslac, Niteo akuma, 704Corleon, Rodrigo, WhoisMitch, Leery Falcon, Grave Walker, and adam!
Senior Magic Apprentice: Cole Bromley, Avacus, and TabbyRabbit!