A tall gaunt old man, with long dishevelled white hair stood before us, dressed in tattered robes of ancient mages his skeletal figure belated the massive power that was contained in it. His dark eyes shown with knowledge of old and immense pride.
And currently those very eyes were filled with rage.
' Merlin was quite kind '
I still remember the presence that he exuded back when I first met him yet compared to what I was feeling right now it instead felt rather laughable.
Not to take away from merlin of course, he was after all much stronger than Koschei who was only SS - rank, still he was also much kinder to me as a student of his academy.
Koschei right now held no such kindness, instead he was radiating so much killing intent that it was actively warping reality around us.
Such was an SS ranker's existence, a rank so rare that only 11 currently existed in the world, with merlin standing at the peak of it all as the only SS+ rank.
" How dare you "
A hoarse voice echoed throughout the barren field, each syllable grating to the ears.
" For me to be humiliated by such lowly beings... its unforgivable "
Each word he said send a shockwave around the area, the ground around us quacking under his might.
We had made him furious, and he wanted to make sure that we would all regret that fact.
" For the past decade I had been waiting for this opportunity, yet because of you that child shall escape once again
You have committed an unforgivable sin "
The pressure he exuded fell heavily on my shoulders trying to bring me to my knees, it was only by using shadow manifestation to keep my body straight was I able to resist, yet the sound of my bones creaking was enough to know that this was only a temporary solution.
The fact is that even with his weakness right in front of us we are incapable of killing him, the current power currently concentrated here was of 3 S-ranks, 5 A+ ranks and a total of 2200 troops varying from C to A rank, yet even with all that a single SS- rank power was enough to wipe them all out.
It was stated that Koschei loved such fights, one where he is completely in control. To have his enemies beg for forgiveness and mercy before he kills them all simply so he could stroke his ego.
' Quite a nasty personality if I must say '
Forcing my body to move with the help of the shadow manifestation I turned towards him.
"No crime is to be committed on Arcane soil and anyone who breaks that law shall be dealt with.
Unforgivable sin? What a load of nonsense, all we did is take care of an old dog that can't seem to listen to orders anymore."
As I said this, I heard the sound of weapons being drawn all around me as the troops got ready for battle, watching as the look on Koschei's face turned uglier with each second before turning completely blank.
" I see then die "
Rising above us all as if a higher being had descended Koschei isolated the entire space as a pitch-black barrier formed around us
" It may not hold merlin, but it would be more than enough to stop any of you wretched fools "
' An anti-teleportation dome, we are unable to leave until we either destroy it or kill him '
As I was thinking that a large sound echoed a step ahead of me, there stood Sir Clark one of the 9 commanders and a S-ranker.
With a shield the size of an entire wagon he had stopped a massive Ice spear that was coming my way.
" Lord, I believe it is best to focus on the battle at hand for the time being "
" It seems so "
Watching us with an impassive face was Koschei as a large smile slowly spread across his face and with the next second a torrent of ice spears rained down on us.
The battle had begun
.....
The previous day
" We stall by continuing to fight?? "
A confused voice echoed from the one standing before me.
Currently I was discussing the plan of attack against Koschei alongside the 9 commanders.
Among them were Sir Clark and Jaster who were renowned as the spear and shield of arcane, Sir Ran who was excelled in magic and then finally Sir William a prodigy who reached the A- rank by the age of 28 all knights of arcane household.
The same could not be told for the rest, as each was merely borrowed support from the five heads, no name simply called as numbers in this case 23, 34, 132, 43, 66 a group of enforcers who were nurtured since young and did whatever their boss told them to.
Turning towards the voice I listened quietly to his inquiries.
" Weren't we supposed to drag out the fight till you use those seals you bought? "
The one who was asking the questions was Sir Jaster, a S-Rank who specialized in the lightning attribute and spear arts, with a lean strong body he was an experienced knight who had served Arcane for the past 20 years.
" Only the fake one is for Koschei, the other is for another cause "
" I see, but that doesn't explain why we should actively engage "
Hearing his question, I shook my head lightly
" Koschei won't kill us before he breaks us
A man whose pride is so great would rather extend a pointless battle he could end in seconds if it means he can see us suffer "
" Still him playing around would be able to kill most of our troops, not to mention the danger you are putting yourself in by going there my lord "
" That's true, however that is our only chance, we must make him focus on us only then will we win "
" A single mistake and we will all die "
" I know "
.....
The spears clashed against the magic barrier hammering at it even as we continuously poured mana
Yet as if finding our efforts laughable a sun started forming in the palm of Koschei's hand as his smile deepened
Watching this Clark couldn't help but ask me a question
" Lord, are we sure this was a good idea? "
" No, not at all "
With the fall of the sun the barrier that was built upon the mana of the united troops shattered like glass and along with it came the sound of lightning, this time though it was on our side.
With lightning coursing through his body causing his golden hair to shine even brighter Sir Jaster sent his spear flying towards Koschei a smile plastered on his face.
Seeing the sight a laugh somehow found me in such a situation
" I thought he wasn't on board with fighting Koschei?! "
" He is a madman when fighting, don't think too much about it my lord "
The spear holding what seemed to be endless amounts of energy clashed loudly against the hand of the old sorcerer before simply extending a finger and sending sir Jaster crashing.
Having gotten rid of the immediate attack he turned toward me sending a lightning bolt this time as if mocking our earlier gesture
However, by the time the attack had landed I was no longer standing there, instead I was 5 meters up in the sky staring directly at Koschei's whose face was riddled with veins threatening to burst at any second
" Unable to hit a mere D rank, yet you go and call yourself an archwizard
How disappointing "
Falling rapidly from the height I was in, I disappeared yet again before appearing beside Number 132.
" How... how
This makes no sense; you aren't using his spell so how are you teleporting "
" Aren't you supposed to be the genius wizard, not me "
Mocking him again I took hold of number 132 as I arrived in front of Koschei again, this time with a giant soldier with an axe.
Clashing briefly with him I disappeared again before he could send us crashing down again.
" Shadow teleportation? "
Hearing his voice full of disbelief, a smile slowly stretched across my face as his confusion grew, in fact I was barely holding in my laughter.
A teleportation spell is to warp through space; my skill creates a link making me able to move past them, normally such a skill would also be contained by the spell of an archwizard who altered space itself to make it impossible
' However, this ability is different '
My one talent that I gained after the collisions of two souls, the ability to continuously change the working of an ability even as it is employed making it possible to adapt around this very distorted space, though at the cost of a huge chunk of my mana
' Still, it should give us time, precious time'
Pointing at Koschei, I spoke with a taunting voice
" Come on now, don't tell me that's all you got
If that is it, you might actually die you know? "