Chapter 148: Easy Peasy

The couple couldn’t comprehend what they were seeing. But what frightened them even more was its consequences.

On Serena’s back was a curling script, glowing with an purple shadowy light that pulsed faintly.

Lord Cedric in the voice of a whisper, began to read aloud the small text:

"To Lady Serena,

The Elven Queen has fallen. We trust you to keep this news secret from the humans as we initiate the next phase.

Long live Eldryth."

The words hung in the air, until Lord Cedric instinctively reached out to touch the glowing inscription, murmuring a chant as back up.

As his fingertips brushed against Serena’s warm skin, the purple glow vanished instantly, startling him and causing him to release his spell.

A wave of warmth washed over Serena’s body before she collapsed onto the plush carpet with a soft thud.

"Serena!" Mirenia cried out, rushing forward, but Cedric’s arm shot out to her.

He looked at her and shook his head, and Mirenia, despite her anguish, understood.

"This is a serious matter," Lord Cedric stated gravely. "If this is true..."



"It could be a prank! It could be false!" Mirenia interjected. The thought that her daughter could be involved in something so sinister was unbearable.

Cedric sighed, running a hand through his white long hair.

"Yes, it could be," he conceded, "but the chances of it being real are high. Even I am not capable of pulling off something like this. That only makes it more believable."

Mirenia had to accept the cold truth. They couldn’t come close to magic of this caliber. Only a stronger being or the Elves’ unique magical practices could achieve such a feat. And that, chillingly, made everything believable.

"What do you plan on doing now?"

"I can’t keep this news to myself," the Duke stated plainly. "I’ll have to visit the King. All the Dukes must be involved. This concerns the entire kingdom."

"And Serena?"

Cedric’s gaze shifted to Serena, lying still on the floor.

"We’ll have to watch her closely. If this is true, it’s possible this is not the Serena we’ve raised. This could be an entirely different person, maybe a spy from the Elves."

He met Mirenia’s tear-filled eyes. "You know what to do. Take care of her until I take her to the King. I’ll give the Dukes a call immediately."

With that, Lord Cedric turned and walked swiftly to a small table in the corner, picking up his Communicator as his mind raced with the task ahead.

***

Far from the hushed dread of the Borin mansion, a ferocious battled raged.

Three figures clad in a special type of armor faced off against a towering beast. It was a monstrosity of muscle and fire, easily ten feet tall with molten rock for skin and eyes that burned like embers.

"Ignis Orior!" chanted one of the mages, a fire mage, as a massive fireball erupted from his hands, soaring towards the beast.

Another fire mage followed suit, their combined assault creating a maelstrom of flames. Yet, the beast merely roared, the attacks doing nothing but irritate it.

The third mage, an Earth mage chanted. "Terra Firma!"

Immense earthen walls began to rise around the group, deflecting stray gouts of fire and shrapnel.



His focus was entirely on defense, shielding his companions as they relentlessly poured their spells into the creature.

Their strategy was clear: overwhelm the beast with continuous, high-volume magical attacks.

However, the true damage dealers were a group of five individuals positioned further back, their forms almost obscured by the dust and fire swirling around the battlefield.

Each held a weapon eerily similar to someone’s signature mana gun.

They fired in rapid succession, brilliant bolts of pure mana piercing the beast’s fiery hide where the mages’ spells had little effect.

With each impact, the beast roared in pain, its massive body recoiling.

These five focused on precision, targeting specific weak points that the mages had identified.

Sometimes they had to replace the magic crystal, before continuing with a fresh one. All done with practiced efficiency.

The Mages, meanwhile themselves kept the beast distracted and controlled its destructive output.

The battle was a grueling dance of offense and defense, but slowly, surely, the tide began to turn.

The beast’s movements grew sluggish and its attack less potent.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, a concentrated volley of mana blasts struck its head, and with a guttural shriek, the colossal creature toppled, hitting the ground with a bone-jarring thud that reverberated through the earth.

A wave of cheers erupted from the weary group.

"We did it!" the Earth mage exclaimed with exertion. He began to puff out his chest and a self-satisfied grin spread across his face.

"Easy peasy, phew! You know, without my defensive prowess, we would have been toast. My tactical placements were simply—"

His bragging was abruptly cut short by a series of monstrous roars. The ground trembled, and from the air, five more colossal beasts, identical to the one they had just defeated, emerged.

Their towering forms cast long, menacing shadows across the battleground, their fiery eyes fixing on the group.

A collective gasp swept through the exhausted fighters. Panic began to set in.



They fumbled at the devices strapped to their belts. "Bro, come on, come on!" the Earth mage cried.

But they didn’t need to.

In that very second, a blur flashed from a building over a kilometer away.

Before the observers could even fully register the beasts, a figure launched himself from the structure. With impossible grace and in the blink of an eye, he seemed to simply step forward.

Only, it wasn’t a step.

Before the bewildered onlookers could even blink again, he was among the beasts.

~SCUNCH! EEEK! CRUNCH! BOOOM! THAURK!~

A series of sickening, wet thuds echoed through the air, almost too fast to discern.

Each towering monster crumpled, their heads obliterated with a single, incomprehensible blow.

No one could truly see how it happened. It wasn’t the lack of light; numerous light posts illuminated the area.

It was the figure himself... He was too fast, moving beyond the comprehension of their eyes.

As quickly as he had appeared, he finished his work. The last beast fell with a final, shuddering tremor beside him, and he turned to face his people, his white hair bright against the dark, chaotic landscape.