The fog was growing thicker as they continued walking up the mountain path.
At this point, it was all too obvious that such dense fog wasn't natural.
"Alex! It seems we've walked into a trap."
Surrounded by fog, it was already too late to turn back.
"Looks like it. Do you want me to make the fog disappear? It's pretty easy with my magic."
Erza shook her head. "We haven't seen the enemy yet. When they reveal themselves, do it then."
Both remained alert to the slightest change in their surroundings.
...
The guild leader, Vane, asked his henchmen, "How much longer until they arrive?"
A wizard named Silas, who was in charge of setting traps with the help of the fog, replied, "They are about two minutes away. With my fog magic altering their sense of direction, this is the only place they can walk to."
Leader Vane issued his orders: "Good. As soon as they arrive, detonate the trap. After that, Bargas, if they aren't dead, you'll finish them off and crush them."
The wizard named Bargas nodded. "Leave it to me, Boss. With my body reinforcement magic, I'll turn them into mush."
A man nearly two meters tall with a heavy build, he was born with a powerful body and a magic that complemented it perfectly.
Leader Vane then turned to Viper. "If Bargas doesn't manage to kill them, you know what to do."
Viper nodded. As a wizard specializing in assassination, her job was to strike when the enemy least expected it.
Using the fog to conceal herself, she vanished into the mist as they waited for their prey.
Silas asked the leader, "What about the others?"
"They'll stay around the trap area in case anyone escapes. Either way, they won't be of much help."
The few remaining members were just there to fill numbers people with useless magic who needed to make a living by any means necessary.
A short while later, Erza and Alex walked into the clearing where the dark guild had set their trap.
The area was a plateau halfway up the mountain, surrounded by trees and large boulders. Perfect for hiding and attacking from any direction.
Erza and Alex felt a shift in the air as soon as they reached the center.
A magic rune glowed beneath their feet, spanning five meters in diameter.
"Watch out, Alex!" Erza shouted.
BOOM!
An explosion erupted right where Alex and Erza were standing.
From the smoke emerged Erza, wearing her Adamantine Armor. Covered from head to toe in steel plates, she held two adamantine shields on her arms, bringing them together in front of her to form an absolute defense.
Facing a dark guild, Erza had used the armor with the highest defense capability against the surprise attack.
Concerned about Alex, she searched for him through the smoke and fog.
Alex materialized right beside her like a ghost. "Don't worry, that explosion didn't touch me. I'm completely fine."
Seeing that her partner was safe, Erza calmed down.
Each had their own means of self-defense. Alex could have grabbed Erza and pulled her out of the blast zone, but doing so while she was re-equipping her armor might have backfired, interrupting her magic and leaving her exposed to an attack.
Seeing that their ambush had failed, the dark guild initiated their next move.
The massive wizard Bargas charged forward, intending to crush Alex first, perceiving him as the weaker target.
A shadow slammed down at high speed where Alex had been standing.
Erza couldn't react in time to intercept the attacker, as she suddenly found herself surrounded by weaker wizards slinging all kinds of spells at her.
Realizing these opponents were small fry, Erza swapped armors to her Heaven's Wheel Armor.
A magical flash enveloped Erza, and in the next second, a rain of swords pierced through the low-tier dark guild members, knocking them out instantly. A couple of swords veered toward the shadow attacking Alex, only to bounce off Bargas's skin.
Ignoring Erza's attack, Bargas muttered, "Strange... even though I felt like I crushed the kid, there's no blood on my hands."
Alex reappeared two meters away from the wizard who had ambushed him.
"That was close. That guy managed to crush my chest with that hit. If I hadn't reacted in time to negate the damage, I don't know what would have happened" Alex thought to himself. "An S-class mission really is on a whole different level. It's no joke that there's a real chance of losing your life."
Splat!
The sound of flesh being pierced echoed for a fraction of a second.
Alex looked down at his stomach. A bloody katana had impaled him straight from behind.
"Alex!" Erza screamed, sprinting forward at full speed while hurling flying swords at the wizard who had stabbed Alex from behind.
Seeing that her ambush was successful, Viper retrieved her katana and faded back into the mist. Frontal combat wasn't her specialty, so she didn't hesitate to hide once more.
Alex's body fell backward, collapsing into a pool of his own blood.
Erza began to panic at the bloody sight of the person she had sworn to protect.
Before she could reach Alex's fallen body, Bargas intercepted her. Powered by magic-enhanced brute force, he threw a devastating punch at Erza. She barely managed to guard using two swords as a shield, but the crushing blow shattered both blades.
The force connected with her arms, launching her several meters through the air.
THUD!
Erza slammed against the ground, her arms going numb from the impact. She forced herself up, using a new sword for support.
Looking up at the dark wizards, she saw another figure step out of the mist.
"So, they sent Titania of Fairy Tail this time. Too bad she came accompanied by a weakling who was nothing more than dead weight," said the dark guild leader, Vane, speaking with the absolute confidence of a man certain of his victory.
———-
Author's Note: Here's the chapter! I know the MC's power is broken beyond belief, and yeah, he could end fights in a single second. But where's the action and fun if everything ends in one move?
To keep the fight from lasting half a chapter, we have to inject some drama into the battle. Don't be impatient!
Otherwise, the MC might as well rename himself Li Qiye.