Domain

"Thank the constellation that Dimitris didn't hear that…"

I looked at Hali almost dumbfounded, it couldn't have been such a bad joke, right?

"Either way… what do you want to do with those that attacked you?"

I too had a couple of ideas, sure Dimitris was doing a great job instilling terror in the nobles pointed by the children, but he also saved all of them and with magic those parts could be regrown. It was just a matter of finding the right healer. However, just as Hali and I were thinking of the path forward, a huge explosion took place.

________________________

-Dimitris' POV-

"That's all of those that needed punishment, right?"

The kids surrounding me, whom I didn't even ask the names of, nodded. Except for a little boy.

He was looking in the direction of a man who had easily freed himself from the vines and was starring back in our direction. Clearly stronger than any other noble.

Is he the B rank?

"Oh? Are you finished? Thanks for taking care of the competition!"

This man was well over 2 meters tall, with bulging muscles making him as large as a couple of fridges and a disgusting sneer across his face.

I didn't answer, but I didn't move my eyes from him. He was clearly manipulating his aura to stop me from reading his intention, but that in itself was a clear declaration.

"Now… if you would kindly… DIE!!!"

Ha.

He launched at me at incredible speeds, and if it wasn't for my enhanced senses, I was sure too take a huge hit.

In the fraction of a second, he was already in front of me, ready to strike my head.

"Flowery disperse."

He disintegrated in a cascade of petals, only to reappear at his original spot, loose his balance and punch the ground.

His aura coated fist, upon contact, created a huge explosion and a shiver run down my spine.

If that hit me, I'd be so fucked up.

"Kids, inside the temple. Now."

They didn't answer me and promptly run away, it was clear this was not a place where they should have been.

I turned towards my assaulter and waited for him to regain his bearing.

"Hahahahahahah!!! Didn't see that coming from a nature mage!"

"Why attack me? I'm just here for the kids."

"What if I attacked the queen?"

Ohhh… he is somewhat smart.

I didn't waste anymore words, this man was in it for Hali and I didn't need anymore reasons to fight.

Let's fight as a mage.

My Archana rotations started to speed up, my elven circuits pumping at full throttle and the runes of my demonic arm were also shining, albeit barely, ready for whatever use I needed.

Seeing my readiness, the warrior started laughing like a maniac and immediately jumped forward, once again, aiming at my head.

Flowery disperse.

As he disappeared and reappeared, fully aware that he'd be ready this time, I had already prepared a couple of [fire lilies of destruction] where I'd assumed he'd land, but spinning mid hair using the momentum of his punch, the bastard changed trajectory and deftly landed far from my trap.

"You think I don't know a mage's tricks? You always repeat and change little things here and there. Boring."

Can't argue with that.

His Aura started to blast out of his body and soon condensed into a claymore entirely made out of blood red Aura.

Creation?

"LET'S SEE HOW YOU DEAL WITH THIS!"

From his position a little over 6m from me, he swung the claymore and a vibrating aura slash was released in my direction.

It was slow enough for me to avoid, but something was telling me it wouldn't work. However, a sense of unease and urgency was starting to build up in me. This single aura slash, was many times stronger then what I was used to.

Its sheer power was terrifying, but I needed to act someway.

Jade hydrangea.

The crystal flower didn't stand a chance.

As soon as the slash reached it, it was destroyed and the aura slash gashed my chest throwing me meters away.

Fuck.

"DIMITRIS!"

Fuck. FUCK.

I snapped my fingers and a flowery crown appeared on my head, healing me immediately.

FUCK.

Odysseus and Hali were trying to rush beside me, but I blinked them away.

This bastard. He had this power and never even thought of me as an opponent.

I took out my bident. Electricity running wild.

"Did you have fun?"

The noble looked at me confused. The bastard didn't even realise what was wrong.

"Did you have fun watching your fellow nobility get trashed when you had the power to stop it?"

"Ahhhh. Yes, very much so."

His grinning face grew darker. This bastard could have stopped everything, yet decided to let them suffer because of what? Competition?

"Why are you angry though? You got to avenge those kids, well… I will kill them all anyway."

"I see."

"???"

The air around me changed.

It was cold.

It was humid.

Uncomfortable.

My heart was jumbling between complete stillness and overdrive.

"Ohhh, you're not just a mage!"

As my presence kept flickering between existence and void, I focused on everything I had learnt.

My family techniques, my spear art, illusion fighting.

Everything was coming together.

I dismissed the [Crown of Avalon] and begun to circulate my Archana as [the Blood of the GodKing] dictated.

Suddenly, tens of Aura swords appeared surrounding me.

Thought manifestation. Of course this bastard can create those swords.

The swords launched at me, but through illusion fighting and my spear art footwork I was able to dodge them all and steadily get near the bastard.

"Poor thing, you think you have a chance…"

The noble raised his aura claymore and once again slashed at me.

My body was cut in half.

As my figure started falling down, I could hear the desperate cries of the people I love calling my name and the snickering voice of the noble.

"You should have just run away with the kids."

He was shaking his head and then looked up to locate Hali that was crying like a child.

"Such a shameful queen. I should kill her as well."

Squelch.

"But you have yet to kill somebody."

Dance of Damocles: 3rd form - Stillness.

My shoulder back, my head held high.

My arms holding my spear showcasing all its form, deeply pierced into my enemy's shoulder and slightly lifting him while my lightning Archana started invading his body.

The bastard had managed to move at the last second, avoiding his heart getting pierced.

"DIMITRIS?!?!"

Odysseus shouted at the top of his lungs and my illusion disappeared revealing my form in front of the noble scum.

"W-why c-ca-can't I MOVE!?"

The bastard asked, but I didn't answer. I couldn't.

Stillness, the 3rd form of my spear art, was an attack meant to force both my enemy and me to hold position. It was binding, but at the same time damaging.

Since my spear was ebbed inside my enemies body, my electric Archana was continuously spreading damage over time.

Of course this was not eternal, nor easy.

The toll on my body was big as well, every time the bastard tried to resist the bind, my muscles felt the burn of his resistance.

Either I failed at completely destroying him from the inside and he freed himself from the stance, or he'd die.

But I was not stupid enough to think a B rank warrior would fail at freeing himself.

In a split second I absorbed my bident into my inner space, blinked away as far as I could see and left tens of fire lilies to explode in the still recuperating foe.

"Haaaaaaa… haaaaa…"

My breathing was erratic. I didn't realise how much strain my muscles were supporting in those brief seconds.

Fuck.

As the wake of the explosion started to settle, familiar waterways surrounded me and a pair of strong but trembling arms wrapped around my neck.

"Haaaa… haaa…"

I was still catching my breath, but I was thankful.

"Brother, you truly are both the most intelligent and the most stupid bastard in this world."

Hali reprimanded me, she was right.

I had been reckless.

Had I fought together with Hali and Odysseus we could have had a much better time.

"Haaaaa… sorry…"

Garden of illusory flowers.

Odysseus freed me with a kiss and focused back on the battlefield.

"Your illusion fighting has improved, but the battle is not over."

What?

As to prove Odysseus right and laugh at my useless efforts, the bastard noble scum rose to his feet.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOW THAT IS INTERESTING! A MERE D RANK NOBODY BINDING ME?"

A switch turned, from amusement too bloodthirst in a second.

"I WILL KILL YOU ALL."

Fuck.

"It's expected of a B rank Aura user, their body has high regeneration and is way sturdier then you'd expect."

Odysseus had clearly read my expression and was trying to clear my mind.

"Don't worry, the 3 of us should be able to deal with him."

I nodded and stood up. With the advantage of a body like his I understood why my spells and even my spear were useless.

I needed more firepower.

I had a spell with such capacity, but it was dangerous. The area of effect was quite big and we were at a temple.

I don't even want to think what Apollo would do if we destroyed his temple.

"Ok, you and Hali are good with those waterways. I'll try to exhaust him."

We didn't waste anymore time. Our enemy was already on the move, we needed to act.

Hali's waterways, that previously coiled around us, were now spreading everywhere.

Odysseus was enhancing them with his wind spells while Hali started to create big ice shards.

Their combination was a sharp chainsaw, even that nobleman couldn't approach it easily and started to conjure Aura swords to interrupt the flowing waters.

Thants when I acted.

Even if I couldn't hurt him directly, I could always interrupt his swords with my flowers.

[fire lilies of destruction] was a 3rd circle spell, although weak, it was enough and cheap too cast in big numbers.

Flowers and swords clashed on the field creating a show of red lights reflecting on the waters spreading around the enemy warrior.

"Annoying brat."

Seeing how his swords were useless, he released another aura slash from his claymore. He knew I couldn't fully protect against it and surely those water ways wouldn't hold much.

The red slash was threateningly approaching and we all knew nobody could defend against it.

"Flowery disperse."

I tried to bring the warrior in front of his own attack, but nothing happened.

"HAHAHAHA IT WON'T WORK AGAIN."

"It really want, people can resist those kind of spell with enough aura or mana and he's stronger then you."

Fuck.

Odysseus was right. Even Merlin had said something similar.

Although my spell was a nature spell, it still had space related magic in it and someone strong enough can resist being teleported.

"Support me."

Both of them nodded and immediately conjured a wind shield and the waterways coiled in a protective barrier following Hali's will.

"Jade Hydrangea."

I poured as much Archana as I could without overcharging the spell and created the densest shield I could.

What followed was a deafening explosion.

Debris and currents flew everywhere. The waterways distrusted, the windshield erased as if it never existed and my jade shield barely hanging on.

But it resisted.

"Shit. The three of us to barely defend. How many of those slashes can the bastard produce?"

Odysseus and Hali were breathing heavily. I myself was not faring well, but I quickly created the healing garden. Every action mattered.

"Ohhh, so it's true!!! Magnificent!"

What?

"King Odysseus has really fallen in grace, how did you lose your circles?"

Don't tell me.

"If none of you mages has a [Territory creation], and I know for a fact the useless queen doesn't, then…"

He sneered, his eyes looking at us as if we were less then trash.

"There is no need to delay the inevitable."

Odysseus and Hali grabbed both my arms at that moment. Their voices coming at the same moment.

"Cover yourself in mana."

"Use aura coating."

I didn't question anything and lightning immediately crackled around my body, the electricity even surrounding my allies, responding to my desire and then the scenery shifted.

The voice of our enemy a thunder on clear sky.

"Soul domain."