Frontier Offense 5

The river stronghold was drowning in blood. 

The once-rushing waters now moved sluggishly, choked with dismembered limbs and floating corpses. The air hung thick with the stench of charred flesh and ruptured organs, the metallic bite of blood so strong it made men retch. Five Cosmic Magi stood untouched at the center of the carnage, their twisted forms warping the very air around them like heat haze over a corpse-strewn battlefield. 

Pupi's hands shook as he gripped his stave, the runes along its length flickering erratically. His war axes lay abandoned ten paces away, buried in the chest of a dead soldier who'd gotten too close to the fighting. Around him, his surviving troops clutched their weapons with white-knuckled grips, their faces slick with sweat and terror. 

"You fight well... for livestock," hissed the lead magus, its voice like rusted blades scraping together. Its mouth split vertically when it spoke, revealing rows of serrated teeth. 

Pupi spat a glob of blood and broken tooth onto the stones. His left eye was swollen shut, his armor dented from a dozen near-misses. "Come... closer... and say that." 

He barely got his stave up in time. 

[Rune Shift: Mirage Step. ]

His afterimages were sluggish, the spell incomplete. The Cosmic Magi didn't even flinch as they struck. One backhanded Pupi across the face hard enough to lift him off his feet. He hit the ground rolling, tasting more blood. 

[Runic Detonation: Fracture Pulse.] 

The explosion was weaker than it should have been. One magus staggered back a step, its cloak smoldering. The others didn't react at all. 

From the distant fort, a cannon roared. A warship exploded in the sky, the shockwave rattling the stronghold's remaining walls. The Cosmic Magi barely glanced up. 

The tallest one raised a clawed hand. The river answered, forming into a dozen liquid spears that shot toward Pupi. He triggered [Rune Guard: Kinetic Dissipation] with a gasp. The barrier formed just in time-but cracked under the impact. A spear of water punched through his thigh, sending him crashing to his knees. 

"Commander!" one of his archers screamed, loosing an arrow. 

The smallest magus caught it midair and snapped it like a twig. Then it moved. 

Pupi saw the blur. Felt the impact as the creature's elbow smashed into his ribs. Heard the sickening crack as bones gave way. He was airborne for a terrifying moment before slamming into the remnants of a stone wall. 

"Pathetic," the magus crooned, stepping over dying soldiers like they were puddles. 

Pupi's fingers found his last [Stormburst Orb.] He triggered it as the creature reached for him. 

The explosion sent them both flying. Pupi's world went white with pain. When his vision cleared, the magus was staggering, its left arm a blackened ruin. 

Now. 

[Rune Trap: Binding Chains.] 

Golden tendrils erupted from the earth-but only three formed where there should have been a dozen. They wrapped around the magus's legs, burning through flesh. The creature screamed, a sound like grinding glass. 

Pupi dragged himself forward, stave trembling in his grip. He carved the rune in the air with his own blood. 

[Runic Execution: Sunder Soul.] 

The crimson sigil struck true. The magus convulsed, its veins turning black before bursting through its skin in geysers of inky blood. It collapsed, twitching, its dying breath a wet rattle. 

The remaining four magi turned as one. 

Pupi tried to stand. His legs refused. Blood ran freely from his nose, his ears. He'd pushed too hard. 

The tallest magus raised its hand. The stones at Pupi's feet began to liquefy, ready to swallow him whole- 

Then the world screamed. 

Larin arrived in a storm of shattered space, his obsidian dao already in motion. The magus's arm tumbled to the ground before its body realized it had been severed. Black blood fountained from the stump as it staggered back, mouth working soundlessly. 

Larin didn't pause. His blade reversed direction, carving upward through the creature's jaw and out the top of its skull. The bisected head peeled apart like overripe fruit, brains spilling onto the stones. 

The next magus barely had time to raise its hands before Larin's knee shattered its chest. Bones exploded inward, piercing lungs and heart as the creature was lifted off its feet. Larin's follow-up strike severed its head midair, the body crumpling as the head arced into the bloody river. 

The third magus unleashed [Prison Eternal]. Golden chains erupted from the ground—only to pass through empty air as Larin vanished. 

[Voidstep.] 

He reappeared behind the creature, his blade flashing twice. The magus's arms fell first, then its legs, the limbless torso hitting the ground with a wet plop. It was still screaming when Larin's final stroke removed its head. 

The last magus turned to flee. 

Larin's free hand twitched. Binding Lash snapped out, the glowing rope wrapping around the creature's neck. A sharp tug sent it crashing face-first into the stones, its nose exploding in a spray of cartilage and black blood. 

"Savages" it gurgled. 

Larin's foot came down on its spine. The crack echoed across the battlefield. His dao finished the job. 

Silence. 

The river flowed on, carrying away the dead. Pupi's remaining troops emerged from cover, their faces pale with shock. 

Larin stood amidst the carnage, his blade dripping black blood. He turned to where Pupi lay propped against the broken wall. 

"You hid your strength," Pupi rasped, each word a struggle. 

Larin studied the single dead magus at Pupi's feet, then the four he'd butchered. He did not reply, merely nodded his head. 

Pupi tried to laugh. It came out as a bloody cough. "Could've... used help... with the other four." 

Larin flicked gore from his blade. "You held them." He extended a hand. "That's what mattered." 

Pupi grasped it, letting Larin haul him to his feet. The stronghold was in ruins, the river choked with corpses. But they'd held. 

[Blooming Bastion] Larin raised his arms and a gigantic circle floated above the stronghold. Healing all the surviving members. Then Larin felt his knee buckle, this was the most intense combat he has experienced. Though he had [Sinlung Resonance] active all the time, he was tired mentally, there was a lot at stake, and more he could do, he was not satisfied with his performance.