Before disengaging, he quickly blinked forward dozens of meters, catching another mage off guard.
Before she could muster up any defenses, his blade already slipped through her armor, eviscerating her heart and protruding through her front side.
Slashing outward, her body was gruesomely cleaved in half, and Cale leaped into the air.
A potent mana signature blossomed to life behind him, and his eyes briefly rose in surprise.
instinctively, he whipped around and flicked his sword, mentally refocusing his mana on the spell. It was a vast orb of ivory mana that commanded the surrounding space to warp to its will. Cale could detect it, but only so late.
[Dispel]
His sword intercepted the spell, and it seemed to halt for a second; Two terrifying powers clashing together. Harrowing fatigue immediately assaulted Cale's body, and a rush of blood ejected from his mouth before his quivering arms buckled from the force.
The ball of mana smashed into him, sending his body spiraling dozens of meters across the battlefield. 'Perception Trickery.... interesting,' He muttered to himself. Despite the revelation, his mind was calm. He was not capable of feeling emotions, and he didn't think of himself worthy to. He only felt sadness, wrath, and pity.
He has claimed so many lives he couldn't even be called a human anymore. He watched as his enemies begged for their life, only for him to cut them down without a second thought.
He felt nothing.
Cale skidded amongst the ground, his black armor tainted with blood and mud. He wasn't especially injured; He was fine to fight. But such a treacherous foe could not be kept alive for long.
The mage was able to manipulate his senses, allowing his spell to get as close as feasible before its mana signature was revealed.
A familiar man with flowing white hair yelled at the idle Cale who let himself lay in the mud, staring into the fiery sky above him. "CALE!" He roared, grabbing his attention. He peered over, his blank face locking gazes with the man. "LINE OF MAGES 8 DOTS TO YOUR 7!" He barked, deflecting a blow from a enraged soldier who was met with a sword in his face a mere second later.
Cale was not designated as a front-line warrior. His role was to kill mages who were being a problem. He was supposed to go in and out behind enemy lines, completing tasks that set his comrades for success.
Cale nodded and immediately recuperated himself, jumping to a lowered stance and hopping onwards. As he thought, a line of 4 mages were repeatedly casting enhancement and healing spells, allowing a large area of soldiers to continue rushing forward without pause.
[Air step]
One mage anticipated his arrival and quickly released a trio of spells at Cale.
Two homing arrows and a net.
'Trying to capture me, hm?' He mused in his mind, grinning.
Cale quickly utilized another air disk, evading the net and only giving himself a few more seconds to avoid the arrows.
What would be a war without comrades, though?
As Cale went to use another air disk, one soldier was already swinging at Cale.
There wouldn't be enough time, so he had no choice but to fight.
Quickly, he swung his sword upward, blocking the blow.
Unlike his previous opponents, this soldier was at least a 5th Pillar Warrior, meaning he wasn't so easily beaten. Chaining his momentum from his swing into a stab, he pierced forward without hesitation, the tip of his sword whistling among the cacophony of battle.
The man spun around, using his forearm armor to lightly redirect the blade, utilizing his spinning momentum to swing his sword with assisted speed and force.
[Attach]
His sword and the man's forearm armor seem to become one, and following it was [Disobey].
This spell allowed him to, in a way, disobey the laws of nature and how things moved.
Unexpectedly, his body quickly evaded the blow, using his sword and the man's forearm as an anchor point to propel his body forward.
With just a light tug, he was able to move his entire body in an instant.
Unfortunately, he wasn't able to separate his sword so easily.
Instead, he abandoned it entirely. As his body moved forward, he let go, grabbing hold of the helmet of the warrior who dared to swing at him.
Some things could be broken, and some couldn't.
The man's neck twisted against his will, a grotesque cracking emitted from his neck as it turned a full 180 degrees, dark purple bruising appearing around his neck.
[Recall]
His sword was separated from the forearm of the dead warrior and flew back to Cale's hand, which was already slashing forward.
Inexperience was the innate cause of nearly 80% of deaths in battle.
Allowing yourself to be shocked, scared, not anticipating something, or being late to respond all stemmed from this.
As such, the mage who simply peered at Cale in fear quickly met his maker.
His body was savagely cut into seven pieces, and Cale didn't spare a single thought for the man.
Instead, he quickly evaded a minuscule spell that would've torn a pinpoint-sized hole right in his heart, and stabbed forward. The tip of his sword dug into the hip of a mage, yet it wasn't enough to claim his life.
[Extend]
Following the direction of his stab, the attack seemed to persist, a small torrent of mana traveled forward, catching another mage in the shoulder. The radiant beam of mana quickly dissipated into the air.
Again, not lethal enough, but their defeat was inevitable.
A wisp of blood dropped from the man's mouth.
Cale slashed outward, blood following after his sword.
Before the arm of the man dropped to the ground, Cale continued his chain of attacks, followed by a vicious shoulder bash which caused the internal organs in the mage's midriff combust within, his organs being reduced to a mere paste in his body.
His corpse still flew forward, crashing into the mage behind him.
A mage's durability was extremely low; However, it was not to be confused with endurance.
Endurance was to withstand exhaustion and weakness, something a Mage encountered a lot, mainly as a process of training. However, as they ascended, their Pillars did not focus their powers on strengthening their body, meaning something that would take six times to kill a Warrior could kill a Mage in one attempt.
As such, the simple force of them crashing together killed the third mage.
Before Cale could kill the last mage, a shield of warriors enveloped him, and he returned to releasing troubling spells.
Cale grinned, the atmosphere around him darkening.
"Dumbfucks."
[Phase]
[Extend]
Cale slashed forward at empty air.
Of course, the soldiers knew an attack would follow. Promptly, they raised their swords, an additional mage casting a precautionary barrier to help reduce the force of the blow. Unexpectedly, the attack simply phased through the barrier, and soon passed them too without making contact.
There was nothing they could do before Cale whispered to them, the hairs on their neck standing like never before.
[Materialize]
Behind them, the squelching of flesh and a terrorizing scream bellowed from the mage who was cleaved in half.
His innards spilled out while he desperately crawled away, a long trail of blood left behind him.
As one of the warriors turned back around, Cale disappeared, his figure vanishing as the soldiers were left in a heightened sense of danger.
He returned to behind the front lines and heaved a deep breath, exhaustion was finally rooting its self in his body. "I think it's time I go back for a little." He stated calmly, beads of sweat pouring down the sides of his face. The white haired man lept back and panted and veered his eyes to Cale. "I see. Luke and some others will be waiting for you with Asmo."
He nodded in response and began dashing off.
That was Cale's purpose. Kill mages, withdraw, and repeat.
The man he received orders from was Astras, a revered soldier who was tasked with commanding the 9th zone of the war. Cale respected him; He was intelligent, fearless, and cunning. He fully exploited Cale's abilities and was not lazy with giving him tasks to complete. The skill he received from reaching the 5th Pillar allowed him to gauge the mana levels in a wide radius, giving him a formidable foresight into how strong a set of people were. With this, he could easily single out mages and give precise coordinates to Cale who executed the task.
Each human usually gained their abilities for their first 5 pillars ascended, and each time it exponentially grew in power. They ranged from combat related, to information gathering, defensive purposes, and many other possibilities. Cale's skill set revolved around disabling spells and high-mobility, due to this, he labeled his 'path' as 'Anti-mage'. He could only wait in anticipation for his 7th Pillar ability, which is world-wide acknowledged as the process of becoming a Deity. This was when you received the ability that dictates your path, and could easily bolster your prowess by manyfold.
Cale himself was already withdrawn from the battle, just landing at the temporary Tactical Operations Center (TOC)
Cale stepped forward with haste, not allowing himself to take a slow, lazy step anymore.
Already following suit were the soldiers around him.
They all ate fast, walked around fast, and cleared their tasks with utmost speed. No one even thought of possibly slacking off. Cale stepped with authority as the soldiers around him peered at him worriedly. Their eyes were troubled, making contact with Cale, who was nicknamed the "Magebane."