Traps and Webs

Looking below myself, I started to regret my useless confidence. Sure I knew I was strong, but would I be strong enough to at least buy some time against these 13 individuals?

Either way there wasn't much I could do about it, so I started to push my act. Soon enough, aura blasts and a couple of spells were launched my way, that gave me at least the knowledge about my enemies, mostly worriors. I blinked away immediately and dispersed my garden below. Moving around this bunch was not exactly easy. Spatial awareness was not my issue, space itself was, they were all scattered around and there wasn't much space for me to safely move around. My strategy needed to change, and Basil was well aware of that.

"SPREAD AROUND, DON'T LET HIM TELEPORT AT WILL!"

Sure, it was the right move, but openly declaring your strategy wasn't really smart.

I moved around in the ceiling and started to throw my own spells: [fire lilies of destruction]; red flowers started to fly all around and soon Basil issued another order.

"SHIELDS UP, THEY EXPLODE!"

And sure enough, various shields covered with aura and some mana shields appeared here and there. With their focus on the red flowers threatening to explode at any moment, nobody seemed to notice the second and last spell long had taught me.

Agriculture my ass, with enough planning anything can really be a weapon.

I had initially thought only [territory creation] could change a battlefield, but then again, even my [thorny path] and my trusted garden of healing could do so. Slowly but surely, their footing was mutating.

[Swamps of creation], it was a harmless 3° circle of nature spell, only focused of fertilizing the ground covering it with a swamplike substance filled with nutrients, but that same substance was extremely viscous.

Seeing how the terrain was changing, a wide smile painted on my face and focused all my fire flowes on a single spot to dry it out. Basil and his comrades didn't stay idle as I moved, but nobody had noticed the change under their feet, a grave mistake. As soon as they tried to run or throw attacks my way they all fell to their butts.

TUD

A collective sound of falling down resounded in the room and soon after, my flowers exploded sending shockwaves all around moving the bodies of my foes who slipped on my swamplike film on every direction. There was now enough space for me to lend safely and proceed with what I needed to do. I secured my space and immediately blinked Sarah's body to me, just to vanish from this place once again.

I wanted to get even Maria's remains, but my situation wasn't exactly favorable, so I just started to blink away as fast as I could. I needed to get out of this temple.

My mission was never to beat them up, i was not stupid, I just needed to get the fragment, save my sisters and get out. The rest was not my responsibility, at least, not mine alone.

The sound of Basil's crew following me out was ringing behind me, but they couldn't exactly match the speed of teleportation.

Or so I thought.

Just when i was about to reach the exit, the flames of a torch in front of me grew out and a mage came out the next second.

Fuck, I forgot fire mages also have a teleportation spell.

The mage didn't waste time and threw a fire ball upon me, I would have been able to easily avoid it, but the flow of mana was weird, right behind the fire ball I could sense another circle I dind't know about. My Archana erupted. I was not about to face an unknown spell at such a short distance. Lightning covered my entire body protecting me from the first fire ball and then my Archana invaded the enemy circle. The problem was, this circle, didn't have any runes.

"BEHOLD THE POWER THE KING OF TITANS BESTOWS US WITH!"

The crazy bastard was screaming at the top of their lungs and I was able get a clue on something I wasn't sure how to react about.

Spells without runes? It's… hold on.

Even if I only knew about circles useing runes as their focus, it made sense. After all, in our world, magic had always existed.

Freed from the momentary shock of not sensing any runes in the spell to come, I pushed my Archana to follow the forms of the circle. I could not destroy it, but I could weaken it, and I was also curious about such a spell. Soon enough, magma erupted from the ground below me, but it was slow enough for me to avoid and blink behind the now confused mage that was frantically screaming about how could it be possible for their spell to fail.

Luckily I didn't have to worry anymore and started to run where Odysseus's and the other were waiting for me. After just a few hundred meters I was amble to see them, all wearing grim faces, it was given since i was only carrying a body with me.

"Dimitris! Are you okay?"

Odysseus didn't care one bit about Sarah and started to check my body from head to toe, I was glad. The worry in his eye however was a little disturbing so I stopped him.

"I'm good, you've seen the message right? Are you ready?"

Odysseus, Hali and Aaron wore determinate gazes, it was clear all their preparations were completed. Yudher and Juna however didn't share their enthusiasm. They approached me slowly, as if asking for permission.

"Klaus… What…?"

I shook my head and explained everything as quickly as I could, we didn't have much time.

"Sarah betrayed, I'm did not kill her. Maria… they were ready to start eating her."

A collective gasp echoed between them. The news of Sara's betrayal didn't really catch anyone by surprise, but eating Maria? That was a different matter all together. Odysseus, who never left my side even when I pushed him away before started to speak.

"Maybe a ritual? Either way, we need to move, they are 10 seconds away."

"Let's go."

At his command, everyone got serious. Hali's waterways, previously hiding at ground level, were now in full display, with Odysseus wind manipulation speeding it up. Aaron took his place beside me, we were the vanguard. Even if Hali would better suit this position with me, Aaron was a dagger master, unlike me that used knives, he was well respected in the family because of his ability with daggers, and just because he had a circle, didn't mean we couldn't fight together. Either way, Hali needed to focus on her waterways. Yudher and Juna were at the far back. Juna had a longbow and Yudher was our long range mage, with only one spell that Odysseus was generous enough to teach: [lightining arrow], basically a bullet like spell.

With this formation ready, we waited for our approaching enemies that sure enough revealed them selves screaming.

"DAMOCLES!!! HOW DARE YOU BREAK MY SPELL!?!?"

"KILL THEM ALL!"

I looked at Aaron with a deadpan expression, with my spear ready and my breathing changed I said only one command:

"The mages first."

Without saying anything else, Aaron coated his daggers with mana and followed my lead. Basil easily intercepted me with his sword and tried to get closer to reduce my range advantage. Blue electric Archana was clashing with red fiery aura, but I didn't concede a single step. Every attempt he made met my resistance. Every slash parried, every stab deviated and finally I went on the offence. Illusion fighting was still far from mastered, but it was true that had helped me in my endeavours with my spear art. My breathing became erratic, my presence continuously shifting from dominating to nonexisting and soon wounds started to pile up on Basil's body.

This was the bastard that caused all of this. The culprit behind Maria's death and Sarah's betrayal, sure she was dangerous to begin with, but I was sure that once I got back to my world things would have calmed down. That was now impossible.

"Basil. Why?"

I was angry, of course, but information was more important.

"As if I'd tell you. Just die you bastard!"

Useless.

It truly was useless to try and speak with someone who had lost his rationality. How else could someone explain the desire to get Chronos back to life?

However I didn't have much time to linger on these thoughts as he continued his relentless attacks and the rest of his crew tried to join the fray. Aaron and I were holding up good, one on one were our specialties, that's when Odysseus and the other intervention was needed.

The waterways, a combination of Hali and Odysseus' effort started to move faster and faster, wind blades were spiraling around the usually innocuous water and like a chainsaw they divided the battlefield in zones. One man from Basil's group tried to break them with his aura infused sword, only to get caught up in the speed and ending up minced meat.

Fuck, that's so fucking vicious.

I knew the strength my companions had, but this was terrifying. The fire mage that surprised me before, seemed to share my opinion and advised everyone to avoid the waterways at all costs.

Fireballs rained on us, but I steadily deviated them with my Archana and continued my onslaught with Basil while Aaron was busy with another swordsman.

His daggers flashing with precision, deviating, protecting and cutting. Our enemies were expert warriors, sure, but House Damocles might have been even more dangerous. Even without mana and aura, we were human weapons to begin with. And it showed. Aaron's experience was leagues above these bastards. After all, they were possibily trained to fight monsters, but House Damocles trained to fight humans.

With an inferior level of mana, basically no spell whatsoever and after just learning how to coat his weapon with mana, Aaron was keeping up with an E rank foe like it was nothing.

The water ways protected us, Aaron and I were steadily pushing back our enemies, and a barrage of arrows and lightning bullets were thrown from our backs towards our enemies, but I was slightly gettin nervous.

The fire mage was dangerous. We needed to get him before he could get serious. The spell he used before was probably an eruption spell that only failed because of my Archana, but if the bastard decided to kill everyone, including his comrades, there was nothing I could do while fighting Basil.

"Sorry Basil, I wanted to torture you, but I can't risk it."

Rain of abundance.

Just as the spell was casted I blinked up in the sky. Sure leaving the front may not be the smartest thing to do, but I knew Odysseus was ready.

At my disappearance, Basil focused on Hali who he recognized as the biggest threat because of her vicious waterways, but he was clumsy. At 5 meters distance from Hali, a magic circle under his feet came to life.

Odysseus was indeed a genious. He knew that at some point I'd fly up to take care of the most troublesome foe and he readied traps around them.

The web of waterway ebbed with wind blades was not the only thing he could do.

Not even a fraction of a second later, Basil was shot in the sky by a tremendous current, directly my way.

Once again I marveled at the precision my man displayed. The level of concentration and battle sense needed to be able to produce something like this was beyond my imagination. But I took his present gladly.

The rain started to fall copiously, my body crackling with lightning was threatening to explode at any given moment, and Basil was flying my way.

I rapidly concentrated my Archana in my fists and locked them together ready to hammer down the bastard that caused all of this.

The [Crown of Avalon] started to barely appear above my head, the last time i used this move, my hands shattered and were then reconstructed only thanks to the crown. Sure I was stronger now, but I'd rather not risk it.

Basil was in my range, I locked eyes with him and cursed the bastard.

"Not even the afterlife will be a safe place for you."

BOOOOOOOOM!!!