ELEMENTAL AGAIN

Sage had known this was going to happen. When she came to pick a fight with the bastard captain she had expected interference from a third party. But, after the fuck up with the [Greater Chain Lightning] and her subsequent dismembering, it had almost slipped her mind due to her anger. If not for the waking jolt caused by the gathering mana she would be paying the price for her negligence.

Before the streak of light descended, she managed to {Blink} to a reasonable distance. Upon reappearing, she was treated to the sight of a brilliant pillar searing the land. With gritted teeth she observed, noting the stray rays of the spell faintly gnawing at her epidermis.

The dread zombie was gone, completely obliterated; she did not need the feel of a breaking bond to tell her. The itchy sensation she got from the residual radiation was enough to assure her; if it could affect her from tens of metres, the summon had no chance.

Fuck! She swore, squinting at the scene.

The beaming ceased but the light remained, rapidly converging to an all too familiar shape. The itchiness on her skin diminished, reduced to a prickle. She killed the lingering sensation by employing [Ward], followed by [Shield] and finally the 7th Order [Elemental Resistance]; this time she made adequate preparations.

By the time she finished the casting of the last spell, the humanoid had fully formed.

Race: Elemental (Elemental- Light)

Physique: None

Mana: S (Cyan)

No different from the light elemental from back then. That was somewhat good for her.

The area where the pillar had touched down had been converted to a scorched circle with an estimated six metre diameter. The bastard captain was inside this blackened circle, still held down by the [Nether Chains] and surprisingly unaffected. Considering the one who used the damn spell was his ally, she was not surprised.

Her gaze drifted from him shortly afterwards. With the piece of shit captain bound, she did not have to worry about him for a while. [Nether Chains] was an 8th order spell that took several seconds to cast, but could last a couple of hours. In that time, it would sap the bound target's energy until they succumbed from exhaustion, before resurrecting them as a zombie. That was obviously not Sage's aim, she just needed the chains to hold long enough for her to defeat the damn elemental.

When the being of light fully formed it took a moment to check on the bastard, likely to figure out his state. After being assured he was not in critical condition, it turned to faced her. There was an intensity about, Sage was unable to tell what exactly.

Her guard had been up since its appearance, the moment it attacked with those damnable beams she was ready for it; a [Stone Wall] propped up to block it. Sage made sure to activate {Ghost Walk} as,-just like the previous time she faced the entity- the rock wall exploded, scattering its chunks in all directions.

The elemental took this opportunity to close the distance between them, trying to thrust is hand into her chest. In response, she hurriedly {Blink}ed away, appearing a couple dozen metres away.

Of course the elemental was not going to stop there. A second after she appeared, it closed the distance between them and tried once more to thrust into her. Being made of light, its speed was nothing to scoff at. However, her {Blink} was fast enough that she managed to avoid it.

When she appeared again she cast [Thunderbolt], not exactly expecting it to hit, but it bought her a little time by causing the being of light to dodge to the side. She followed up her attack by enshrouding the area with [Darkness], only to face the same old situation of the elemental's radiance blowing it away. The primordial creature responded next by firing more beams towards her, which were avoided with another {Blink}.

Appearing a short distance away, she was met with yet another onslaught; causing her to raise [Stone Wall] to defend. Dammit, she swore internally as she {Ghost Walk}ed to avoid debris scattered by the wall's subsequent shattering.

She hated fighting these damnable light elementals. The fucking things were immune to attacks which did not contain the Dark Element, greatly limiting her choice of offensive spells. Even necromantic spells like [Bone Lance] and [Harm] did not work, though for different reasons. The 6th Order [Bone Lance] summoned a bone spear, which was a physical object; against a being made of light it was completely useless. As for [Harm]; it was probably one of the most powerful attack spells in her arsenal, but the prerequisite for it to work was that her target had to have flesh. The elemental was an energy being, flinging the spell at it would be a waste of mana. Even the versatile [Telekinesis] did not work against energy beings.

She dodged another of the light elemental's attacks and she cast [Darkness] again, to be met with the same result. The elemental only needed to glow for the dark wisps to retreat. Even so, she persisted with the same stratagem. It was the only way slow the creature. This time however she used the stronger [Dark Field]; and of course the field spell only settled for a second before it was neutralised by the elemental's {Light Field}.

Sage of course expected it. The casting of [Dark field] had simply been a way of buy time to unleash her next spell, [Dark Domain]. Although this spell was similar to its 6th Order counterpart in many ways, it was much more potent. If the elemental wanted to get rid of the domain it would have to put in more effort than simply shining very brightly.

The elemental did try to dispel the domain, in the same manner no less, to no avail. The opportunity brought by its failure gave her the chance to shoot [Dragon Breath] at it. Unfortunately, it evaded with ease. To avoid its torrential counterattack she {Blink}ed away.

"You know," she tried starting a conversation with it, more accurately its controller. "Don't you find our current situation ironic?"

The elemental's puppetmaster did not seem to be in the mood to converse, opting to make the creature to strike at her with more lasers instead. This time she used [Void Barrier] to defend. Unlike the 5th Order [Stone Wall], [Void Barrier] held. Even so, the impact of the primordial's barrage greatly shook it. A few more of those and it would shatter.

On a positive note, due to the domain the elemental was unable to get within five metres of her. Whenever it tried the darkness would act up, sending shadowy tendrils to try and ensnare it. The only thing its radiance managed to accomplish in the confrontation, was destroying the tendrils; at which point a new set would sprout to try and snatch it. Its only avenue afterwards was retreat.

"Do you remember last time?" Sage continued, her gaze shifting slightly to the side; catching the chained bastard in the distance. "I was doing my best to protect the geezer. This time it's you who's trying to protect someone."

Her words seemed to awaken a storm in the elemental, causing it to fire an endless barrage of lasers at her. She reinforced her defence by setting up another [Void Barrier]. This one manifested just as the first one shattered. It was not long before it too reached a critical point. The elemental's furious attacks were without consideration for its mana, which was its lifeline in the Main Plane. It appeared her words had more of an effect on the summoner than she intended.

Good, she welcomed. Verbally, she uttered, "Our situations aren't exactly reversed though. I might have failed to save the geezer, but the odds of saving him- miniscule as they were- were there. You however, you have no chance of saving dear Isaac unless you kill me; which honestly just is not possible. Also, if I wanted to I could kill him right now. Funny isn't it?" The last line she uttered with a leer.

A furious foe was much easier to handle than a rational one, everyone knew that. Fury dulled one's awareness to the environment, making it easier catch the opponent off guard. The elemental's controller was wholly focused on trying to break through the barrier in order to kill her, completely ignoring the spell she was preparing. The barrier reached its limit just as she finished casting it. A moment later an invisible field materialised at the being's feet.

[Forbidden Zone], it was still one of her favourite spells.

After its deployment the elemental dimmed considerable, turning it into a wobbly creature that seemed to have difficulty maintaining its existence. Light Magic and elementals, these were obviously what she banned within the field. Inside [Forbidden Zone] the elemental was now helpless.

"You must be quite fond of the bastard for you to react like that," she stated, taking the first step in its direction. "Old age must really be doing a number on you."

The person she wanted to kill the most in this world was not the bastard Guard Captain, but the piece of shit responsible for the geezer's death. That was why, on her last visit to the Enchanted Flower, she had made sure to request all the information she could about the son of a bitch and his acquaintances, especially those allied with the Church of Life.

"You needn't worry about his fate though," she said, closing more distance between her and the creature; the edge of her [Dark Domain] almost in contact with it. "You will be dying before him."

When the domain made contact with the elemental, dark tendrils sprang up and caught it. Like its 6th Order counterpart, this spell's primary effect was to weaken the living while strengthening the dead. However, against an elemental of the opposite element, it was fatal. The shadow tendrils rapidly eroded the primordial creature until it faded out of existence.

Seeing that it was defeated, Sage let out a relieved sigh.

Honestly, it could have been way more difficult than it had been. Even though she was two Orders above the last time, she had still struggled with the elemental.

I need to come up with countermeasures, she thought seriously. As she currently was, meeting a stronger light elemental would be the end of her.

The bastard Guard Captain was still fruitlessly struggling against the [Nether Chains]. She {Blink}ed to him and caught his defiant glare.

"Release me vile creature!" the arsehole spat furiously.

She chose not to give a response. Did he really think she would comply just because he asked, and in such a rude manner no less?

"Nyx," she called.

A moment later the cat popped out of her shadow.

Although he had assimilated the form of a shadowcat, he still did not have the ability to aid in a fight against someone like the bastard captain. Sage did not even want to think about how he would fare against a light elemental. So, since he was still useless, the cat was relegated to the side-lines, where he could only observe.

"Knife," she ordered, sticking out her palm.

The cat spat an ornately decorated dagger into her hand. She had not gotten much use out of it since nabbing it from that blacksmith's shop. Now, she ran it across her free palm, pursing slightly as she drew obsidian blood. The wound was quickly sealed with [Heal Undead]. Then she returned her attention to the bastard on the ground.

"You won't get away with this!" he yelled. "The Church will-"

She plunged the coated blade between the gap in his armour near his armpit, cutting off whatever else he was going to say. The bastard let out a pained grunt, his eyes filled with rage as they glared at her hatefully. She matched him with a seemingly calm look, warring to mask the fact that her insides were fluttering; she was surprisingly loving his pained expression!

"Potions," she demand, gaze momentarily shifting to the cat. "Vigour, spirit."

The cat spat the two vials into her hand.

The spirit potion, she downed to replenish the vast mana she had expanded in the fight. As for the vigour Potion, she pulled the knife out of the bastard and stepped on his throat. Her action caught him off guard, eliciting a suffocating cry from him. This time, the battle to maintain a calm exterior was lost. A wide smile tore up her face while she poured the vial's contents into his gasping mouth. A healing potion was unable to flush out her poison, so the bastard continued to treat her with his choked contortions.

It was almost shame to be unable to savour it longer.

Her gaze returned to the cat. "Guard this area. Make sure no one comes close"

"Leave it to me Master," Nyx replied enthusiastically, assuming the shadowcat's appearance. "With this new form no one will best me!"

Hearing him, she could not help sigh. In all honestly, if someone actually came she had no faith in him triumphing. Anyone brave enough to come here after the spectacle that had just occurred was surely someone with enough confidence in their strength. Against such an opponent, the cat would only be able to stall for a few seconds in a head-on fight.

Still, that ought to be enough, she thought, pulling up her neck sleeve and casting [Mystic Eyes]. I won't be gone long.

With the spell's enhancement, she looked at the traces of the light elemental and the residue of the spell that had materialised it here; she traced their source to the city in the distance. It was expected, but she needed to make sure just in case. The results of her inspection brought a smile to her lips, one that would have quickened her heart if it still functioned.

"I'll be right back," she declared, casting [Teleport].

The last thing she saw before her surroundings changed was the incensed face of the Guard Captain morphing to a terrified one, he must have realised what she was going to do.

The hag already had a foot in the grave, it was time to put the other one in.