The Giant Foe

The beautiful city of Zelan was is shambles. The once proud and flourishing city now currently had an overreaching cloud of dust hanging over it. Rubble covered the streets, joined by the occasional cold body that had been robbed of life.

Another rumble shook the plaza of the inn, startling Leon. Zeke was crouched beside him, looking around, so he did the same. From a glance, he could already tell that the Ovocentaurs were having a hard time holding up the barrier, even with the help that they got from the magic formations of the plaza. That meant the battle outside was no small thing.

"This is bad... I think we're going to die here." Zeke mumbled, his eyes wary and full of uncertainty.

"Don't talk like that." Leon smacked the Minotaur's arm with a scowl.

"What? It's not like I'm the only one that thinks so too." Zeke mumbled, rubbing his arm.

Leon gulped and looked around once more. He could see the fearful gazes of those who had already accepted the fact that they would most likely die here this day. A mother hugged her crying daughter, while looking around, as if hoping to find someone.

Leon quickly averted his gaze, not wanting to see the disappointment in her eyes when she realized that the person she was looking for was not present with them. He was most likely out there in that battlefield; most likely dead.

As Leon was looking around, he spotted the students from the academy. They were all huddled together, with Stewart and Avery watching over them.

"Zeke, let's meet up with the others." He pulled Zeke along with him and rushed to meet the others. Stewart noticed him coming, and his eyes went round as he found the two of them running over.

"Thank heaven you two are fine. That leaves only a couple more students." The man sighed, adjusting the cracked frame of his glasses atop the ridge of his nose.

"What? Who's still out there?" Leon asked.

"Clair, and a boy from Avery's class, Romel." Stewart sighed. The man tapped Avery on her shoulder to speak with her, but just then, the ground beneath their feet shook, throwing them off balance.

BOOOOOM!!!

A massive dark shadow came tumbling in their direction, toppling over a pair of story buildings on its way down. The dust cleared quickly as another massive shadow came in their direction, blowing away the cover of smoke. When the smoke cleared, the two shadows were able to be seen clearly, and the people sucked in sharp breaths.

A stone giant, that was crumbling apart that very moment, had its back to the ground, laying a few dozen meters away from them. The other shadow, was literally a shadow, a humanoid amalgamation of so much shadow, that it seemed to darken the area around it.

The shadow giant reached down for the crumbling stone giant, its clawed hands stabbing straight at the chest area.

Rumble!

A giant earthen spike jutted out of the ground, and stabbed through the outstretched hand of the shadow creature. The creature let out a wail and stumbled back, holding up its dissipating hand. The mana that made up the injured hand was falling apart, and the hand looked like dust that was about to be carried off by the wind.

However, if it was that easy, then Dion would have already killed the shadow creature multiple times over by now. A pulse of vile mana shook the air, making everyone who felt it endure waves of nausea. Some children even outright fainted, and the worried cries of their parents rang through the air.

All these negative effects were occurring, even with the protection granted by the magic barrier being help up by the Ovocentaurs.

"Run!' A deep voice rumbled through the plaza as the stone giant got up to its feet. Its towering form created a huge dark shadow that shrouded the entire area in a veil of darkness.

"Hup!" A pale glow emanated from the stone giant that seemed to burn away all forms of darkness. Leon immediately felt his body turn lighter, and his chest felt much clearer of the overwhelming pressure that he had been feeling ever since the battle started.

The shadow giant, which had regenerated by now, turned its abyss-like eyes to stare at the tiny people hiding behind Dion, before turning back to the stone giant.

"Youuu... Cannot protect... Them..." Its voice was hoarse and rough, and it grated on Leon's ears like sandpaper.

Just as it spoke, the people felt the ground begin to rumble beneath their feet. Then they heard the sudden drumming of dozens of feet.

"Oh, God no..." Someone muttered.

Boom!

A horde of shadow creatures burst through rubble, raising clouds of dust behind them as they sprinted straight at the people. As they came close enough, a curtain of darkness that resembled the one emanated from the stone giant spread out of the shadow giant, but this one was much more powerful than the meager domain that Dion had managed to scrounge up.

"Students, run! Avery will protect you!" Stewart suddenly exclaimed, his form bursting into a ball of flames as he summoned the mana within and around him. He took a step forward, before exploding into a giant fireball that was shooting straight at the incoming horde.

Stewart was a powerful Master tier mage. A Master tier mage could only attain that level when they had gained complete mastery over an element. A mage who could command multiple elements, but gained mastery in only one was still able to ascend to the Master tier. When he gained Mastery over more elements that he could control, then he would grow even stronger compared to a mage with Mastery in only one element.

Stewart, for example, had gained mastery in both the fire and wind elements. He could also command water, but he had yet to gain complete mastery over it. Even still, that was more than enough to turn him into a terror on the battlefield until he met his match.