Chapter 62: 2 Archmages (2)

3rd Person POV

The dust settled slowly, revealing a smoldering crater where the dragon once lay. But suddenly, a tremor shook the ground. A low rumble echoed from the crater's depths, growing louder by the second.

The earth cracked further, spewing smoke and ash. Both Archmages braced themselves as the powerful presence became active again, and this time, it was much stronger than before.

From the depths of the crater, a monstrous claw emerged, it was larger than before and it was way thicker tree trunk and dripping with molten rock. With a thunderous roar that shook the very mountains, the dragon clawed its way out, its entire body radiating an intense heat that warped the air around it.

The deformed dragon also grew scales that were blackened, smoldering crimson, glowing faintly with a malevolent inner fire. Its wings' flapping and lifting it off the ground was so powerful that it was sending a hurricane of dust and ash toward the stunned Archmages.

Rivel, momentarily dazed by the unexpected resurgence, barely managed to throw up another protective barrier. The ash and debris slammed into it, blurring their vision. Through the haze, they could see the monstrous beast, its eyes burning with an unholy red light.

"I wasn't pulling any punches." he commented

"I wasn't either." Ashford replied as he stared at the dragon, "I guess their plan of wanting to destroy your castle completely wasn't false. They knew you were here."

The dragon then released a blast of dark light at the archmages. Rivel created a much stronger barrier this time, but he was still barely resisting the attack.

"Rivel, hold the barrier! We need to weaken it further before attempting another finishing blow!" Ashford shouted as he helped back the barrier.

Rivel gritted his teeth as he started to use his mana to back the barrier, but cracks began to spiderweb across the barrier, threatening to shatter under the relentless assault of wind and debris. He knew this wouldn't hold for long.

Sensing their struggle, the dragon landed on the ground and charged its mana before unleashing a blast of black flames, this time even hotter and fiercer than before. The barrier warped and strained, the air itself sizzling under the onslaught. Rivel felt his magical reserves dwindling rapidly.

Thinking fast, Ashford slammed his palm on the ground. The ground around the dragon's legs then churned once more. This time, razor-sharp shards of obsidian erupted from the earth, slicing through the thick scales and drawing black-colored blood from the beast. +

Taking advantage of the distraction, Rivel unleashed a series of concentrated air blasts, each one aimed at the dragon's wounded chest. The beast shrieked, its massive wings lashing out as it tried to swat away the invisible projectiles, but the attacks did manage to penetrate and shred its wings.

Ashford, his robes fluttering in the hurricane that he summoned channeled his remaining energy, feeding the swirling vortex in front of him with the fury of a tempest. The dragon roared and unleashed a colossal fireball, a molten sun hurtling towards them and the attack collided with the vortex.

The impact was just pure destruction. Light, deafening booms, and a heat wave that scorched the very air itself ripped through the battlefield as it destroyed the castle and most nearby buildings.

The capital itself would have almost been destroyed if it weren't for the mages coming from all over to cast a barrier to contain the explosion, which resulted in a lot of more than a fifth of the mages.

Rivel knew a desperate gamble was their only chance. He could sense that they both drained a lot of their mana to try and keep up and so, ignoring the screaming protests of his exhausted body, he channeled every last bit of his magic. His vision swam with the strain, his staff sparking with raw energy. 

Only an all-out raw output of an attack would kill that dragon, he could tell, the dragon had more mana than them, and the longer it is, the deadlier it is for the 2 archmages.

"Ashford," he shouted, "We need to focus our attacks on the same point. See that injury that we left on its chest?! Aim for it!"

With an earth-shattering roar, the dragon unleashed its fiery breath of dark flames as Ashford and Rivel unleashed a combined beam of raw energy in the form of a burning white spear aimed directly at the dragon's chest. 

The spear penetrated through the dark flames and penetrated through the dragon's chest. The dragon screeched, a sound that ripped through the very air, as the white-hot spear slammed into the scar. A blinding flash then erupted as the spear self-destructed.

The detonation ripped through the dragon like a miniature sun igniting within its core. A monstrous boom echoed across the battlefield, shaking the very earth beneath their feet. 

The shockwave slammed into Rivel and Ashford with the force of a cannonball, sending them flying through the air like ragdolls. They both then slammed into the cracked earth with a bone-jarring thud, causing the breath knocked clean out of their lungs.

Their forced landing caused a small crater around them, and despite the injuries, they were very much alive. They could hardly see their surround though as there was smoke and poison fumes everywhere.

"Let's thank your prince for stopping this." Rivel coughed, "That dragon would have gathered more power otherwise."

But before Rivel could celebrate, he turned to see Perseus with a blade through Ashford's chest. An archmage's body should be almost invincible and yet the blade cut through Ashford so easily.

"You're going to make it look like an accident, right?" Perseus asked as Terrence emerged from the smoke and stood before Rivel.

"Well, more like as if they died from that impact just now." Terrence chuckled, "To think that we can rid of 2 archmages this easily, we're going to get paid, those snakes were useful to help us eliminate obstacles."

"I don't really care, I killed this bastard purely for revenge." Perseus said as he took his sword out of Ashford's body.