In his eyes, the pillar of fire looked like a shooting star.
Weston swept his fingers through the air; magic power circulated, and a magnificent, noble array blossomed in front of him!
Letter Magic · Chaos!!
The moment the words left his mouth, a huge Chaos character forged of magic power shot out of the array.
In the next instant the Chaos glyph spread outward.
The space before him became an invisible force-field saturated with peculiar magic.
As soon as the blue fire-pillars entered that field, they met some irresistible interference and abruptly veered off course.
Some curved left or right, some soared or dived; a few even reversed and streaked back toward the old Wizard.
Under the night sky they formed a brilliant blue firework!
"What?!"
"That brat actually blocked my spell?!"
The old Wizard paled; before he could react—
Boom!!
One of the redirected fire-pillars struck him square in the head, the searing flames swallowing his skull in an instant.
"Aaaaargh—!!!"
He shrieked, reflexively flinging away his staff and rolling on the ground clutching his burning head, but the fire would not die.
In less than half a minute he lay still.
From afar, Mavis, who had watched it all, stood frozen.
"He... he's dead...?"
Weston was silent for two seconds, then said flatly, "He cooked up his own death, serves him right. Let's hurry..."
"You two little wretches!!"
A roar cut him off.
Weston spun round to see the brawny man had retrieved his weapon and was charging at the three of them.
Worse, the gap was now barely three meters.
One casual swing and they'd be crippled if not dead.
Boom—!
The great-sword cleaved like a mountain-splitting axe straight for the waists of Weston and Zera.
It was a furious, merciless strike, as though to chop them into four pieces.
"Look out!"
In a flash Weston reacted, pushing Mavis's head down and flattening them both.
With a whoosh the blade skimmed overhead.
The fierce wind-pressure whipped hair and clothes into wild disarray.
Razor-sharp slashes snapped Zera's hair-band; her brown locks tumbled in chaos.
Shhk—
The residual force carved a deep scar in the ground, spraying fist-sized stones.
"Damn it!!"
Enraged at the miss, the brute lashed out with his boot at the two on the ground.
But his foot passed straight through them!
After one failure he realised what was happening.
"Illusions again!"
This time, with no old Wizard to guide him, he had to rely on his own eyes. When he looked up he froze.
Eight Westons now stood along the street, each carrying a Zera and shadowed by a Mavis.
All were fakes.
Instantly the phantoms sprinted in different directions.
Only one enemy, one target in eight—twelve-and-a-half percent odds.
"Damn brat, think you can fool me a third time! I'm a Wizard too, you know!"
'Your illusions are slick, but a careful read of magic power flow will spot the real one. There—the genuine trio is that way!'
With a yell he lifted his great-sword and charged the chosen group.
"Not good—he saw through it!"
Mavis's face paled at the sound behind them.
Weston hadn't expected this muscle-head to have such perception. Halting, he handed Zera to Mavis.
"Keep Zera safe. Leave him to me!"
He spun back and rushed the Wizard.
Letter Magic · Slash!
Magic power condensed into a sharp Slash glyph that shot toward the man.
Clang!!
The impact shoved the fighter back half a metre but failed to break his guard.
"Not bad, kid, but this blade was custom-forged by a master smith. Your puny tricks can't beat me!"
He raised the huge sword high and slammed it down, unleashing a savage storm of sword-pressure that tore earth and air alike.
Weston's eyes narrowed; he dared not tarry. He slashed his fingers through the air.
Letter Magic · Shield!
A barrier of magic power snapped into place, shielding him completely.
The moment it formed the sword-pressure struck.
For less than three seconds the shield held, then cracked and shattered.
With the barrier gone Weston faced the tempest bare-handed.
Shrrrip—
The blast shredded clothes and skin, blood spraying.
"Weston!!"
Seeing him injured, Mavis's mind reeled. Her face drained of color and wild magic power surged through her.
Crack!
Ignoring his wounds, Weston burst through the sword-storm, leapt onto the man's shoulders and pressed a palm to his head.
"Take this!!"
Bzzt—
A violent magic power pulse flared from his hand.
Super Archive · Data Implant!
A torrent of clips and text Weston had tagged 'grotesque,' 'bizarre,' 'sick,' and 'anti-human' flooded the Wizard's mind—
"Aaaaargh—!!!"
"What—what is this?! Get it out—out!! Blargh—!!"
His face cycled from red to white to green to purple to black; veins bulged, skin crawled, and he vomited uncontrollably.
Thud! Three seconds later the man rolled his eyes, foamed at the mouth, and collapsed unconscious.
"Weston!" Mavis cried, rushing over.