"[Tornado Magic]!"
"[Hellfire Gale Magic]!"
As the two spells merged, the sharp winds ignited into a roaring inferno. A pillar of brilliant red light spiraled upward, piercing the clouds and transforming the sky into a swirling lotus of flames. This massive firestorm stood between heaven and earth, the sheer heat distorting the very air around them.
To think Denken already mastered these spells in this era... though his control is still a bit unrefined compared to thirty years later.
"Quite a show you're putting on," Reed grunted. He dropped into a low crouch, slamming his hands against the ground to raise three thick stone walls to intercept the stray beams of light erupting from the cyclone. He followed up by summoning jagged stone spikes, driving them into the heart of the fire pillar.
With their combined efforts, the initial counter-barrage from the demon was held at bay. Suddenly, a surge of mana like a tidal wave roared through the clearing. The massive firestorm was physically blown apart by sheer magical pressure, dissolving into golden particles.
Zaras emerged from the dissipating heat with a flick of his wrist. The massive stone spikes nearing his chest crumbled into dust instantly.
"Fascinating magic. Please, tell me more about yourselves. Perhaps we really can be friends." Zaras looked genuinely delighted. He floated in the air, treading upon the empty void as if walking down a grand staircase.
Flight magic. At this point in time, humans had barely begun to decode this demonic secret, and it certainly hadn't become common knowledge yet.
"You've only just met, yet you coordinate as if you've fought together for years... humans are truly marvelous!"
The moment Zaras's feet touched the ground, massive stone pillars erupted around him, threatening to crush him. But the thousand-pound rocks were halted two paces away by a dense mana barrier. No matter how hard Reed pushed, the stone wouldn't budge.
SHRRRR—
A sharp, magical shortsword lunged unexpectedly from the blind spot behind the stone pillars. Garlan appeared from the shadows, his right hand gripping the blade while his left flung a vial filled with a glowing green liquid.
This was a highly corrosive poison originally intended for the Red Mirror Dragon—a lethal masterpiece Garlan had concocted by accident. He had melted several alchemy crucibles just to refine this one bottle; throwing it felt like his heart was bleeding.
CLANG!
The shortsword, as expected, struck the mana barrier and stopped cold. Garlan kicked off the crumbling stone pillar, leaping back dozens of yards to put distance between them.
The poison, however, found a gap in the mana flow. Zaras, unfamiliar with human "dirty" tactics and underestimating small objects, didn't bother to block it.
Hiss—Hiss!
The vial shattered against his back. The emerald liquid splashed across his skin, causing immediate, widespread necrosis. His luxurious, gold-trimmed robes dissolved into tattered rags. For the first time, the arrogant Great Demon looked ragged.
"What a filthy way to fight. Do you not feel you've stained the honor of a warrior?" Zaras growled, covering the blackened holes in his torso. Mana flooded the wounds, knitting the flesh back together in a few heartbeats.
But the poise was gone. The calm was shattered.
"Watch out!" Denken's warning rang out.
Reed looked up as stone steps rapidly formed under his feet to push him backward, but he wasn't fast enough. A powerful shockwave of mana struck him head-on, sending him tumbling across the dirt. He coughed up a spray of blood before his eyes rolled back, and he slumped into unconsciousness, his fate unknown.
Zaras was growing tired of the "quality" of their attacks, so he had decided to prune the weakest branch first. Even though Denken had blocked the brunt of the shockwave with a shield, the kinetic force sent him flying ten meters back with a muffled groan.
Garlan braced himself, crossing a black alchemical longsword in front of his chest. Relying on his superior physical conditioning, he took the hit, sliding back only a few steps, though the internal vibration made his stomach churn.
"I have decided on a new way to interact with you," Zaras smiled, though the killing intent in his eyes made them shiver. "Try not to fall so easily."
Deep, bottomless black mana surged from Zaras, spreading like a dark ocean. Fallen trees and debris were slowly swallowed by the spreading ink.
"It's like a swamp..." Garlan muttered. It reminded him of the bogs he'd seen earlier.
"Don't let it touch you!" Denken used [Flight Magic] to reach a high branch, while Garlan scooped up the unconscious Reed and leaped into the canopy. The ground below began to collapse into a void wherever the black mana touched.
So that's how the Northern Magic Corps disappeared, Garlan realized. Not a single body left behind.
"Hey!" Garlan's shout broke Denken's concentration. The stranger was already blurring through the trees, circling to Zaras's flank. "Use [Basic Offensive Magic]!"
Denken froze for a split second. Use 'Basic' magic against a Great Demon? That's insane... unless... Suddenly, the realization hit him. He understood Garlan's gamble. If the demon had never encountered the human-standardized 'Zoltraak,' it wouldn't have a specialized defense against it.
Garlan sprinted across the branches, leaves rustling violently. Behind him, beams of black light chased his heels, missing him by inches.
"I am not dying today!" Garlan's heart was hammering against his ribs. He flung every toxin and paralytic agent he had left at Zaras.
The demon, wary after the first burn, didn't take chances. He burned through mana to keep his barriers absolute, swatting the vials away.
"Is this 'human wisdom'?" Zaras mocked, firing beams at Garlan. "Leaping through trees like a monkey and throwing bottles? Show me your real moves before I lose interest."
Garlan didn't stop. He looked like a panicked animal, his clothes torn and skin bleeding from near-misses. But he had achieved his goal: Zaras's eyes were fixed entirely on him.
"If you let me go, I'll even do a little dance for you!" Garlan yelled.
"I don't think so. I'd rather—"
Zaras stopped. His pupils dilated in disbelief. He looked down at his chest. There was a clean, smooth hole through his torso, cauterized and hollow.
He had been watching Denken. He hadn't been careless. But the attack had arrived with such impossible speed that it had transfixed him before his mind could even register the threat.
"What... what magic is this? I felt no... no buildup..."
Denken didn't give him a second to breathe. Hovering in the air, dozens of magic circles manifested around him. A relentless barrage of [Basic Offensive Magic]—the "Killing Magic"—rained down like meteors.
Denken poured every drop of his mana into the assault, targeting the head, the heart, and every vital joint. For forty seconds, the forest was drowned in light.
When the dust settled, Zaras's body collapsed and began to dissolve into mana particles. The grand performance had ended with a messy, abrupt curtain call. The 450-year-old demon had paid the ultimate price for his arrogance.
"I only... wanted to be friends..."
"Go tell it to the devil," Garlan spat, stepping on the demon's fading head.
They had won. The three gamblers had put their lives on the table and walked away with the pot. Zaras had died the way most demons did: convinced of his own superiority until the very moment he was unmade.
___
There's a few advance chapters on my P@treon
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