The explosive force knocked Mira backward violently. She hit the dirt hard, her body tumbling twice before coming to rest. Vision swam with stars and disorientation.
Sera staggered, clutching her ribs protectively.
The Voidfire explosion had torn completely through part of her leather armor, shredding it like paper. Burns seared across her entire left side, skin blistering and raw. She gasped for air, stumbling backward on unsteady legs.
The Frost Mancer immediately seized the opportunity presented by their weakened state. She thrust both arms forward decisively, and a massive wave of ice surged across the field like a frozen tsunami.
Sera barely managed to throw herself sideways, but the edge of the frost wave caught her legs. Crystalline cold bit deep into muscle and bone. She dropped hard to one knee, breath coming in ragged, painful gasps.
Mira forced herself upright through sheer willpower, lightning buzzing erratically at her fingertips.
"Enough," she growled through clenched teeth.
She launched another concentrated bolt, but the Earth Mage raised both hands defensively. A thick wall of solid rock erupted directly in front of the Frost Mancer, completely blocking the electrical strike.
Then the Earth Mage slammed his palm flat against the ground. The earth itself vibrated violently, like the prelude to a devastating earthquake.
The tremor locked onto their specific position. The ground cracked and split beneath Sera and Mira's feet, knocking them both completely off balance.
The Blood Mancer finally pulled himself free from the splintered tree, eyes glowing crimson once more.
He smiled through bloodied teeth, fresh blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"Well then," he rasped with dark satisfaction. "Time for round two."
Sera tried desperately to rise, but her frost-damaged leg gave out entirely. The ice had penetrated deeper than she'd realized, crystallizing in her muscle tissue. Agony bit with every attempted breath.
Mira positioned herself protectively in front of her fallen companion. Lightning danced wildly and uncontrolled around her trembling form.
She was panting heavily, one eye swollen nearly shut, fresh cuts bleeding across her arms and back.
"We're not finished," she hissed with defiant fury.
Dorian observed everything from his elevated position with calculated interest. He leaned forward slightly, golden eyes locked onto the desperate scene.
Evelyne tilted her head questioningly. "Should we intervene now?"
"Not yet," Dorian murmured, glancing at his four elite Knight Guards and the remaining three followers. "I'm curious to see the outcome... Let's observe how they handle extreme pressure."
On the battlefield, Mira raised both trembling hands high, lightning coiling up her arms like living serpents, wrapping around her shoulders and spreading across her chest.
The night sky responded to her desperate call. Using the humid atmosphere as an amplifier, storm clouds gathered with unnatural speed. A low, ominous rumble vibrated through the entire field.
The attacking enemies paused uncertainly. Even the confident Blood Mancer faltered in his advance.
Sera, still collapsed on the ground, glanced upward through her blurred, pain-hazed vision.
"Back off... or burn." Mira's voice was low and strained, but the plain threat laced within sent genuine chills down their spines.
BOOM!
The storm broke free violently.
Lightning poured from the heavens in devastating torrents. The sheer raw intensity was far beyond what a Level 8 Primal Warrior mage should be capable of controlling. But Mira pushed anyway, pouring everything she had into the attack.
Brilliant white bolts struck the field in rapid, merciless pulses of blinding light and searing heat.
The Voidfire Mage desperately raised a shield constructed of dark corrupted energy, but the natural lightning cracked through it like thin ice under a meteor's impact.
The Frost Mancer screamed as concentrated electricity punched straight through her hastily constructed ice dome, devouring her completely before the pathetic defense even finished forming.
The Blood Mancer attempted to redirect the electrical power using a barrier of solidified blood, but both he and his shield shattered like fragile glass under the overwhelming assault.
Only the Earth Mage, who'd managed to shield himself behind multiple stacked layers of dense rock, barely survived the catastrophic blast.
When the violent storm finally faded, thick smoke filled the air. Mira collapsed to both knees, completely and utterly drained of primal energy. Sera crawled forward weakly, hand still gripping her blade with desperate determination.
Only one enemy remained standing in the scorched aftermath, the Earth Mage, bruised and breathing heavily. He looked at both women, one kneeling in exhaustion, one bleeding from multiple wounds, and took a slow, deliberate step forward.
---
At the clearing's edge, Dorian's golden eyes swept methodically across the devastated field. Smoke curled in lazy wisps from charred grass and shattered stone fragments.
His previously casual smirk had completely faded, replaced by something far more contemplative. His jaw clenched slightly, brow furrowing as he processed what he'd witnessed.
He hadn't expected that level of destructive power, certainly not from a mere Lightning Mage operating at Level 8 Primal Warrior.
That lightning wielder... Her final desperate strike had carved a wound across the battlefield that even his experienced, well-trained followers couldn't withstand.
That kind of raw, untamed potential, especially combined with pure affinity toward such a fundamentally destructive element, wasn't something easily found even among the best Primal Warriors with extensive training.
Even the Blood Mancer, who was supposed to be essentially immune to pain through his techniques, hadn't walked away intact.
Dorian folded his arms slowly, fingers tapping once thoughtfully against the hilt of the ornate longsword sheathed at his side.
"I'll admit," he murmured quietly, "even I would've needed to block that strike seriously with everything available."
His calculating gaze locked onto Mira's collapsed figure sprawled in the field. She was still breathing, but barely conscious.
His head tilted with genuine interest. "How fascinating indeed."
Evelyne stood rigidly beside him, but her violet eyes were watching him more intently than the battlefield now. "You seem... unusually intrigued."
"I am," he acknowledged easily. "Genuine talent like that doesn't simply appear randomly. Not from common adventurers without noble bloodlines or powerful backing."
He took a measured step forward, boots crunching against loose gravel. "I was initially planning to eliminate them. A simple cleanup to remove witnesses." He paused meaningfully. "But now..."
He glanced at Evelyne, a calculated smile forming. "I'm considering recruitment instead."
Evelyne's expression remained perfectly neutral, but something cold flickered deep in her eyes. "Recruitment, Young Master?"
"She'd make an exceptional addition to my Knight Guards," Dorian continued, oblivious to the subtle change in her demeanor. "Both of them would prove valuable. The archer's skill is impressive as well."
Evelyne maintained her composed silence, but something darker stirred beneath the surface. Jealousy? Perhaps. But also something more primal, possessive territoriality.
Her hand moved subtly to her side in a practiced, barely noticeable gesture.
The Earth Mage, the sole survivor of Mira's devastating lightning storm, caught the signal immediately. Blood ran down the side of his dirt-covered face. His robes were torn and scorched. But he saw Evelyne's hand signal clearly.
And understood its meaning perfectly.
Kill her.
He didn't hesitate or question.
While Mira knelt exhausted with one knee pressed into scorched dirt, breathing ragged and labored, while Sera struggled desperately to pull herself upright despite her injuries...
The Earth Mage raised one hand, palm flat and fingers spread.
The ground trembled ominously once more.
Crack!
A spear of wickedly sharpened stone burst violently from the earth directly beneath Mira's position...