Spearbound Ch. 43

The water mage was the only one that paid more attention to Eliza than him. Kade saw Eliza attempt an attack, but the ground below the karnathis turned to ice, preventing her from completing it.

It was still a plus. She had the attention of one, and he only had to deal with two.

Kade slapped away a lightning bolt with his [Soulrend] and rushed to the karnathi that attacked him. He tried to drive his [Soulrend] into its chest, but the karnathi released a burst of lightning that compelled him to retreat. He strained the muscles in his legs to avoid the unexpected defence.

The dome of electricity surrounding the karnathi was nearly opaque, extending several feet from his body on all sides.

Kade backed away further as he saw the three remaining karnathis split up. It was a smart move. They realized that staying in close quarters would only be beneficial to him.

He vaguely felt Hellion pull back on his attack when he saw the change in the situation. Smart bird.

Eliza engaged the water mage, using the ground so effectively that it seemed second nature. He was confident that pulling up the earth, pushing a wall of dirt, and creating spikes that attract impale the water mage were all different spells, but they were so fluid that he could barely tell them apart.

Kade could watch her fight for a while without getting bored, but unfortunately, he had his own issues to deal with. He directed Hellion to focus on the water mage through his bond before leaving those two to deal with it.

He waited for one of the lightning mages to make a move.

Kade had intended to deal with them without his abilities, but that was no longer an option. He intended to get out of this without significant damage, and that meant he had to use everything he had available instead of putting a restriction on himself to make the fight more challenging.

Kade widened his eyes and quickly leaped to the right, barely avoiding the electrified chains that erupted from the ground. He kept moving since it didn’t stop at only one. Once the chain failed to wrap around his leg, they disintegrated, and another erupted below the spot where he escaped.

This was to keep him away from the two lightning mages. He didn’t doubt that the karnathi would be happy if the lightning chains grabbed hold of his leg, but as long as he couldn’t get close, it would be a success in the karnathi’s view.

The delay tactic was to help the other lightning mage. The karnathi that wasn’t spamming lightning chains raised its arms to the sky. Dark clouds were forming above them, with faint flashes of lightning inside. The formation was painfully slow, but he couldn’t do anything to prevent it from being kept away.

Kade dodged another burst of lightning chains that erupted from the ground. He considered instructing Hellion to disturb the lightning mage gathering a storm cloud above. However, the bird was giving Eliza real help in managing the water mage. Calling Hellion away would overwhelm Eliza, which wouldn’t help anyone.

He narrowed his eyes as he allowed the storm cloud formation to complete. He would keep his distance and prevent even attempting to get close.

His abilities remained unknown; that would be the downfall of lightning mages.

Kade split his attention between Eliza and dodging the lighting chains. He was ready to throw his [Soulrend] if she came close to losing control of the fight. He had no intention of allowing a human to get killed by this alien monster.

It became apparent that Eliza needed environmental advantages to show her full worth. This fight was the exact opposite of an advantage for her. Hellion barely helped since he was still weak compared to the water mage and was against an element that put him at a severe disadvantage.

A loud rumbling crackle boomed overhead. Kade resisted the temptation to look up and tried to time the strike by staring at the lightning mages. The crackling became more frequent, and the air around him felt charged with electricity. It was almost time.

Suddenly, the lighting mage spamming the chains roared and clenched its fists. The ground below him exploded and peppered him with debris. Several thick lightning chains erupted around him, blocking any escape before they wrapped around his body and immobilized him.

The world flashed white as massive lightning bolts descended from above. Kade was utterly blind to everything and hoped the karnathis were in the same boat.

He activated [Ethereal Glide] and shuddered in awe as the lightning struck, obliterating the area he stood in. Even though the ability should have made him intangible, he could feel his skin prickling from the extreme power surrounding him.

Kade snapped himself out of his covetous greed and rushed back towards lightning mages. He noted that the one who called down the lightning from the sky had collapsed on the ground, completely depleted from the effort of casting such a powerful spell.

That one goes last.

The karnathi in charge of the lighting chains was still under the impression it was holding him within the lightning. It refused to give up its stance as it kept the chains active, and its blindness was its downfall.

Kade deactivated [Ethereal Glide] when he was directly before his target.

His [Soulrend]’s blade drove through the bottom of its chin and exited the skull. He was already on the move before it turned into a white powder.

Kade telegraphed his attack on the collapsed mage, but the depleted karnathi but could do nothing except let out a weak roar to warn the only remaining karnathi—the water mage—of its impending death. His [Soulrend] finished it as he plunged the blade through its chest.

The battle became quiet as the lightning dissipated upon its caster’s death. Despite this, the water mage didn’t give up and tried even harder to defeat Eliza before it perished.

That was its mistake. It had been successfully deterring Hellion while keeping Eliza on the back foot, but it tried too hard to succeed in a short amount of time and found Hellion’s claws deep within its skin.

Purple blood sprayed out as Hellion’s talons left several deep gouges in the karnathi’s neck. Eliza took advantage of its roar of grievance and yanked her arm up with a fierce expression.

A sharp spike shot up from the ground and impaled the water mage through its body with a speed that didn’t allow it even to realize it had died. The water mage turned into a white powder, ending the battle.

Kade exchanged glances with Eliza as Hellion screeched in victory overhead. The interface beeped softly to let him know he had multiple messages to look at, but he had other concerns at the moment.

“That karnathi army… what are the chances the storm cloud went unnoticed?” Kade asked. It was almost rhetorical.

Eliza had the same thought as she stared in the direction where the army had disappeared. “Zero. We need to move.”

Kade gave her a brisk nod and commanded Hellion to stop screeching and land on his shoulder. The bird would be a beacon to where they were as they made their escape if he stayed in the air.

“Let’s go that way,” Eliza suggested as she pointed inward, away from where the karnathi army came from. “We can circle back if needed, but we must avoid the most obvious areas.”

It was away from where Hellion had seen a settlement, but it was the safest idea. For once, Kade didn’t have thoughts of doing the opposite. The risk to others, instead of just himself, greatly reduced Kade’s death-seeking tendencies.

“Agreed,” Kade said as they settled into a steady sprint. He could see the reappearance of the army at the very edge of his sight.

He brainstormed ways to divide the army into multiple groups so he could take them on more easily, but with them on high alert, it was unlikely.

Kade mulled it over for several seconds before pulling up his interface. He decided he would be better off spending the [Free Points] he gained from leveling up.