In the heart of Lake Village lies a prominent lake, celebrated as the quintessential attraction of the town.
Perched atop a grand hill that offers panoramic views of the lake stands a majestic hotel.
With an impressive legacy spanning almost a century, the hotel was once graced by visits from noteworthy personalities from all corners of the continent, including monarchs, aristocrats, and tycoons.
Regrettably, this era of grandeur was brief, as it succumbed to the advances of ambitious individuals chasing unrealistic ambitions.
Notwithstanding this, the hotel endured atop the hill for nearly a century, upholding its magnificence, shattered today.
Zrrrrrrrrrrrrrzzzzz—!!!
Phoohahahahahat—!!!
Zzzzizzzzizzzizzzzzzick—!!!
The once-proud hotel now crumbled, caught in the crossfire of a clash between three wizards of Grandmaster caliber.
The wreckage of the rooftop and walls stood as testimony to the immense havoc.
As if the chaotic spectacle wasn't enough, icebergs, pillars of fire, and lightning erupted from the hotel's pinnacle, resembling the onset of a natural catastrophe.
The sheer power of the colossal wizards invoked tremendous physical forces, shaking the hotel as if an earthquake had struck.
"Uraaahhhhh!"
Amid a symphony of magical explosions reminiscent of fireworks, Philip soared into the sky, assuming control.
From his pocket, he retrieved a shrunken sword and cast a spell.
[Expansion]
[Strengthen]
[Heavily]
Uttering the three incantations, Philip's sword expanded to match the grandeur of the hotel, its hardness and weight escalating to unfathomable proportions, cleaving through the structure from zenith to nadir.
It resembled the mythic blade of a giant.
The hotel yielded like a slice of cake beneath the colossal sword's onslaught, accompanied by a deafening crash that eluded verbal depiction. Amidst the cacophony, the edifice crumbled, rending the ground asunder.
A power transcending rationale, befitting a Grand Master.
Yet, the intended quarry remained unscathed.
"Did you still not learn that such things won't work on me?"
Despite the preponderant might, Theodore stood undeterred, effortlessly evading the assault, ascending the sword's edge. Utilizing the techniques of the Life School, he fortified his physique and augmented his agility.
Truly abominable.
Despite his ability to strike from range, he deliberately opted for close combat—Philip's forte—merely to accentuate their disparity in skill.
Truly reminiscent of Theodore.
‘But I can't complain. After all, I am the one at a disadvantage…'
Philip ruminated, a self-assured smile gracing his lips.
Naturally. As a challenger in his twilight years, excitement was inevitable.
Even amidst the dire straits, Philip conflagrated with the ardor of a challenger, a sensation dormant within him for two decades.
"Shrink!"
Philip diminished his colossal sword back to its original size.
The abrupt size reduction caught Theodore off balance mid-air.
Yet, unflustered, he promptly restored equilibrium, harnessing his profound magical prowess and augmented physical attributes.
And naturally, Philip's countermeasure remained incomplete.
[Object Control]
Wielding a sword commensurate with his stature in one hand, Philip wielded magic with the other, ensnaring plummeting debris. For an ephemeral moment, he commanded these fragments, mounting pressure on Theodore from all azimuths.
Bricks, human-sized chunks of concrete, steel reinforcements—all converged from every angle. Theodore erected a magical shield, repulsing the encroaching onslaught.
No harm.
Yet, insignificance notwithstanding. Philip's intent was restraint.
With a singular purpose, he channeled his mana into the sword to the threshold of exhaustion, infusing it with weight and augmentation spells to amplify its offense. Then, with a sweeping motion, he brought it down.
Philip's conjured blade-beam plummeted like a silvery meteor.
Simple, yet irresistibly potent.
As if to underscore this potency, a detonation comparable to the hotel's dimensions erupted at the point of impact. Debris was scattered, a shockwave unfurled, agitating the earth and fog in all compass points.
A potency seemingly capable of sundering reality.
But amid the dust-choked air, the one who bellowed was Philip.
"……Ghhhh!"
Despite wielding a weapon that could cleave all to fragments, astonishingly, Theodore thwarted it at the cost of an arm, then retaliated with a magical projectile that obliterated one of Philip's shoulders.
Pain eclipsing human tolerance.
Clutching his wound, Philip retreated as Theodore's arm swung, an attempt to crush his skull akin to a watermelon.
Swish!
In the instant Theodore's blow neared, a searing agony coursed through his maimed arm due to Philip's attack.
Tilda, endowed with the distinctive ancestral talent of the Issai lineage, promptly froze the injured section.
A chill akin to poison diffused from the wound, ensnaring Theodore's arm in frost and inducing necrosis instantaneously.
"This is quite…"
-[Claymore]
Distracted by the frigid grip on his arm, Theodore found himself vulnerable. Philip seized this opportune moment to mend his severed shoulder using magic, then channeled a spell through the ground with his feet.
A monumental explosion erupted from beneath them, engulfing Theodore from the front and thrusting Philip back in the aftermath.
Philip, having lost a shoulder, rolled painfully on the ground. Yet, he clung to this precarious opening he had seized. Infusing mana once again through his feet, he triggered a multiple explosion spell.
Numerous clusters of mana, reminiscent of subterranean moles, detonated in diverse directions, culminating in an explosion rivaling an airstrike.
The earth quaked anew, and the mist stirred. Sensing that Theodore's magical defenses had weakened, Philip shouted, "Tilda!"
Answering his call, Tilda, who had kept her immense mana in check to avoid losing control, unleashed her stored power.
Commencing with herself, she exuded frigid air and ice, encasing everything in the vicinity except Philip. In particular, she erected an ice mountain as colossal as a genuine peak around Theodore, ensnared by the prior explosion.
Boom! Boom! Crack! Bang! Thump! Thud! Boom!
The towering ice behemoth erupted forth, swiftly breaching Theodore's enfeebled magical shield and inflicting substantial harm upon his form.
Even Theodore, an extraordinary Grand Master, couldn't disregard such grievous injury.
Tilda did not relent; she persisted in channeling frigid air into the wound, fostering necrosis in the affected region.
By most standards, the battle appeared concluded.
Yet, Theodore, instead of revealing anguish, channeled mana through his wounded area, wresting control of Tilda's magic and reclaiming mastery over it.
"Damn it. No matter what, this is too much!"
In a fleeting moment, Philip detected Theodore attempting to manipulate the space around him and adeptly hurled a weapon with one hand, shattering the ice surrounding Theodore and intercepting his spell.
Subsequently, Philip diminished numerous weapons strewn around Theodore, launched them, and enacted an expansion spell.
Bang! Crash! Clang! Crack! Boom! Bang!
The projectiles—chilled weapons like swords, spears, and axes spanning diverse epochs and regions—swelled, rending and piercing the earth like metallic missiles.
Comparable to raining metal chunks, not bombs.
The colossal metallic masses plummeting from above bore catastrophic consequence. Evading their descent proved formidable for Theodore, particularly given his existing injuries.
As anticipated, Theodore could not evade the cascade of mammoth blades, sustaining deep lacerations with severed limbs and exposed organs.
Once more, the battle seemed concluded. However, Theodore emitted mana from his lacerated form, molding a membrane-like barrier around himself, expediting his recovery akin to a gestating embryo.
"……!!"
The sight of Theodore's swift convalescence and his mastery of magic beyond comprehension left Philip and Tilda staggered.
Though they had seemingly cornered him, he rejuvenated in the blink of an eye.
Thankfully, Philip and Tilda reacted promptly instead of remaining dumbstruck.
Tilda employed ice on the ground to bolster Philip's movement speed.
With her support, Philip collected the shrunken massive weapons strewn about and hurled them at Theodore with unwavering force.
Whoosh! Bang!
The hurled weapon, resembling a streak of light, collided with Theodore's regained magical barrier.
[Grenade]
Philip endeavored to induce a weapon explosion akin to a grenade by manipulating the mana infused within it, but this endeavor proved futile this time.
Theodore, seemingly disinclined to offer further opportunities, maneuvered the magic barrier that had intercepted the weapon to envelop and suppress the imminent explosion with almost casual ease.
Diminishing his remaining weapons, Philip orchestrated a deluge from above, yet Theodore employed his feet to imbue the ground with power, neutralizing Philip's ferocious assault with a colossal landslide.
Or, more accurately, it was more than neutralization—it was an emphatic counteroffensive.
Despite Tilda's icy magic fortifying the ground, the earth persisted in upheaval, swallowing not just Philip's projectiles but also making a bid to engulf Philip himself.
Even as the weapons detonated, it was akin to pyrotechnics within the landslide.
Tilda erected an immense iceberg, seeking to halt Theodore by freezing the soil, but Theodore escalated his dominion over the earth, assimilating the chill and rapidly shattering the iceberg, forming it into a serpentine configuration.
Philip clutched his spear, aiming to pierce the earthen serpent, yet the lower portion of his body submerged into the ground, and an unseen force ensnared his arm.
Theodore manipulated the terrain beneath Philip's feet, transmuting it into a quagmire while ensnaring his hands with earthy tendrils.
As in many magic confrontations, the tide shifted abruptly, turning unfavorable.
The gaping maw of the earth-formed serpent unfurled, poised to engulf Philip. In that critical juncture, an immense fire dragon materialized, clamping its jaws around the serpentine construct to halt its advance. The dragon even sought to seize Theodore, perched atop the makeshift creature.
With a resounding thud, Theodore, though well beyond his eightieth year, exhibited agility defying his age, artfully evading the fire dragon's assault. Employing magic, he manifested a colossal mountain to escape the draconic threat.
Ensconced at a secure distance, he quipped, "This is unexpected. I didn't think you'd be here."
The focus of Theodore's gaze rested upon Kevin.
Emerging from the fog, Kevin was enshrouded by flames and salamanders, accompanied by Terence.
***
The abrupt appearance of Kevin flabbergasted all witnesses.
It dawned upon them that the enigmatic fog veiling their surroundings was no ordinary phenomenon.
Equally astonishing was Kevin's symbiotic relationship with the salamander draped over his form.
The hallmark of a Druid: Elemental magic.
Although traversing the domain of magic, mastery of Elemental magic necessitated more than mere aptitude unless an elemental entity chose to bond with the practitioner. Everyone speculated when Kevin had ascended to such adeptness.
"You can use Elemental magic?"
Theodore inquired, met with Kevin's silence as he instructed Terence to attend to Philip.
"Are you alright, sir?"
"I'm fine. Just a little scratch… But how did you get here?"
"Well, it's a bit complicated and long."
Terence hesitated, grappling with how to elucidate the intervention orchestrated by Zenon, Kevin's personal aide. Utilizing the World Tree's influence, Zenon had seized control of the mist and orchestrated their arrival.
They were indeed present, yet the reality still felt surreal.
"Then explain it long and complicated. I'll gladly wait."
Theodore's tone was nonchalant, even after his recent attempt on Philip's life.
He hadn't regarded Philip as an equal.
In fact, that might be unsurprising, considering his age and his recent single-handed triumph over Tilda, a One Master, and Philip, an esteemed Grand Master.
However, this demeanor… Terence was quietly angered, while Kevin called Tilda in a calm voice that didn't fit the situation.
"One Master Tilda."
"…What?"
"Just so you know, Yareli is safe, so don't worry."
Kevin's announcement was essential, though the timing was peculiar.
Upon receiving news of Yareli's well-being, Tilda exchanged a glance with Terence, who nodded in confirmation.
"Where is she?"
Suddenly, Theodore's presence was overshadowed as the others embarked on hushed conversations amongst themselves.
"I left her with a task. I asked her to rescue our students trapped in the secret lab in the village."
"You did a foolish thing."
Theodore interjected, annoyance lacing his words.
"Do you even know who's guarding there-"
"-By the way, I've assigned a very trustworthy person to Yareli's side, so you don't have to worry too much. So let's just focus on our own business."
Kevin's interruption of Theodore was deliberate.
"Heh… I didn't expect such cheek from a lab rat."
