The Final Step

The sound of a gunshot was heard as a clean beam of blazing fire split through the air.

PLUNGE! BOOM!

It didn't even take a second for it to be over.

A shower of blood exploded into the vicinity as the figure's head burst apart.

And then, it was all chaos.

At that moment, every figure's head snapped toward the headless member's body on the ground.

Mikhail wasted no time taking advantage of the confusion and chaos.

As much as he would have liked to hunt them from the trees, he had made an oath.

"Norvalis Morphis."

A wispy smoke covered his legs and feet as the words escaped his lips.

Click. Cluck.

The next moment, he jumped outside of the trees into the field.

Landing on the grass, however, his feet made no sound at all.

The spell completely suppressed it.

'I need to get this done quickly.'

He could already feel his mana dwindling rapidly.

The oath had attuned the frequency of his attacks perfectly to the gates.

His eyes moved to the seven gates in the distance.

As expected, he could see the borders of the gates waver.

It was working.

However, there was some good news and bad news.

Since the disturbance frequencies were higher, the oath had heightened his mana frequency levels to match them.

Although due to the oath, it canceled the stress on his body for high-frequency spells…

The mana consumption didn't remain the same.

Which meant that for each attack he did now, he couldn't adjust the mana consumption.

It would remain high all throughout the battle.

He could only hope it was enough to close the gates now.

Focusing his attention on the front, Mikhail saw that the Silent Pact members had already gotten alert.

THUMP! RAWRR!

Suddenly, the ground shook with a tremor, almost throwing everyone off balance.

Mikhail quickly reacted, planting his feet on the ground.

But it wasn't over just yet.

He felt the hair on his back stand up and his instincts screaming for him to jump.

And that was what he did.

THUD!

Mikhail had never been so fortunate to jump, as the instant that he did, a gigantic foot smashed on the ground.

Hiding in the clouds of dust, Mikhail looked up in the sky to see a humongous monster.

Almost the size of a dinosaur.

'Their control probably shook with that surprise.'

It was the only reason that came to his mind.

And it seemed to be correct, as he saw the monsters change their direction to the gates again.

'I need to utilize this to my advantage.'

Hiding in the dust, Mikhail wasted no time to attack again.

"Cindralis."

He made the sign, igniting the spell diagram once more.

"Fumivex."

The second node.

"Morphis."

And the third.

"Cindralic Morphis."

Shooting through the dust, Mikhail came right face to face with the Silent Pact group.

As expected, the members wasted no time sensing his presence, despite the stealth spell.

"It's the intruder!"

He heard someone yell, alerting everyone as well.

'Not yet, I need to get closer.'

"Aqualis Boltium!"

Twisting on his center of gravity, Mikhail easily dodged the two hydro-bullets.

But it wasn't the end of their attacks just yet.

"Borealic Bladis."

A series of azure blades split through the wind, aimed toward him.

SWOOSH!

However, Mikhail still didn't hold his charge. Planting his feet onto the ground, he jumped hard into the air.

"Aqualis Bormis."

A stream of water shot out from his hands, keeping him in the air.

SWISH! SWOOSH!

With experienced movements, Mikhail effortlessly maneuvered mid-air, dodging the blades with his water streams.

'Close.'

Mikhail's attempt to get close wasn't just to deal more damage to them in close combat.

It was to keep them stressed and occupied so they wouldn't notice the gates shrinking.

"Keep your distance, don't let him get close!" Mikhail heard the one farthest yell.

'No, you don't.'

Mikhail blasted his water beams at the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

Canceling the spell, he shot to the ground with his Norvalis spell still active.

Wasting no time, he shot towards the nearest member to him in the dust, remembering the positions from above.

As his figure split through the cloud, he saw the member's eyes widen.

'From his reaction, it seems they still don't know about my Norvalis Essentia.'

The figure quickly raised his hands, sending another Borealic Bladis toward him.

But Mikhail's instincts were faster.

Twisting his heel, he bent his back, dodging the blade while continuing his charge.

The pain that came with the sudden movement was nothing new to him.

The member's body stiffened as Mikhail finally reached him.

Raising his gun, Mikhail pointed it straight at his head.

"Cindralic Morphis."

BOOM—

'What?'

TING! SWOOSH!

His flaming bullet bounced right off the cape as if the clothing was a piece of metal.

'This didn't happen before.'

Mikhail could feel the member underneath the hood smile wickedly at his surprise.

And the latter wasted no time utilizing the opportunity as well.

"Aqualis Boltium!"

The bullet pierced Mikhail right in the shoulder, springing forth a splash of blood.

Pain shot through Mikhail's body, but the black-haired soldier showed no sign of it on his face.

It didn't even halt his movement, as if it was normal.

"It's going to take you more than this," Mikhail said.

Grabbing the man's arm, he spun him in the air, slamming him on the ground while ducking to dodge a bullet at the same time.

A cry of pain erupted from the man's mouth, which was visible to Mikhail now.

Pointing his gun to his forehead, he pulled the trigger.

BOOM!

A single loud shot echoed in the surroundings, easily ending the man's life.

Mikhail didn't even use magic for this kill.

One simple bullet was enough.

Click. Cluck.

Tilting his head to dodge another bullet, Mikhail shot forward again.

"Next."

But the moment he did, the ground shook once more, this time with a worse intensity than before.

It ended up throwing him off balance along with everyone.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

Mikhail's eyes shot toward the source like each member, the worst possibility already running in his head.

Just like he thought, it turned out to be true.

The shaking wasn't caused by the monsters this time.

It was done by the wormholes, the air rippling under their shrinking pressure

Unfortunately for him, though, everyone knew about it now.

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