I smirked as my stats flashed before me.
While I was still not as strong as to kill a Divine-ranked mana beast, I was confident in my ability to inflict fatal damage to the cyan serpent.
Yes, I said fatal damage.
I wasn't aiming to just hurt it and run away now. Oh, no. I was aiming to bring it down. I was going to kill that reptilian bastard!
Baring my teeth, I drew my sword back. The colossal serpent shot at me like an arrow, trying to ram me for the second time.
But this time, I was quick to counter it.
I swung my sword to meet its assault head-on. Sparks flew as the blade of my jian collided with the serpent's snout.
Even though the serpent pushed me back, I managed to stand firm this time. At that moment, a flicker of confusion seemed to appear in the serpent's reptilian eyes.
But before I could act on its momentary confusion, the serpent disengaged, rising above me like a towering omen of death.
It opened its jaws wide and descended with its fangs aimed at me. Quickly using the Lightning Aura, I swiftly evaded the attack by jumping back a few meters.
The serpent's fangs struck the ground where I was standing a split second ago, its fangs tearing through the land as if it was made of cardboard.
By the time I landed safely, the serpent raised its monstrous head to once again focus its attention back to me.
The serpent opened its jaws wide, but instead of lunging forward at me again, it remained motionless.
Suddenly, turbulent winds from the rainstorm swirled in front of its gaping mouth.
In an instant, the raging winds in front of its jaws quickly coalesced into a colossal orb, compressing and transforming into searing hot plasma.
"A long-range attack, huh?" I drew back my sword, adopting a sharp stance for a forward thrust. My jian's white blade was instantly engulfed in immolating crimson flames. "Come then!"
As if it was answering my challenge, the serpent hissed.
The compressed plasma orb in front of its jaws erupted into a catastrophic beam, hurtling toward me with deadly accuracy, melting the ground beneath it in its wake.
At the same time, the flames on my blade transformed into a storm of plum blossom petals.
The ethereal petals swirled around me, spiraling like a fiery whirlpool before I pushed my blade forward in a destructive thrust.
Following my movement, the fiery petals surged forward in a spiral like a drill and collided with the incoming plasma beam. n(-.(/...--(/1/-n
Each pinkish petal striking the beam erupted in an obliterating explosion, causing the ground to quake.
Following the clash, for a few seconds, it looked as if the cyan serpent and I were evenly matched.
However, the plasma beam gradually gained ground against my petal storm and started pushing my attack back.
"Tsk!" I clicked my tongue in frustration and infused a huge amount of mana into my attack.
The petal storm raged more fiercely, momentarily holding back the plasma beam. But not for long.
Slowly but surely, the plasma beam crept toward me, reaching me within seconds.
My face was just a few inches away from the volatile plasma beam. I could feel the scorching heat coming from it. It was way more intense than my explosions.
A wind attack was more destructive and intense than my fire magic. So this was the strength of a Divine-ranked mana beast?
Just as I prepared myself for getting torched alive, an arrow, veiled in a galing whirlwind, struck the left side of the serpent's jaw.
Thwaaam—!!
The impact redirected the serpent's jaw, altering the trajectory of the plasma beam. With a deep breath, I called off my attack as the plasma beam whipped past me and tore through everything in its path.
Turning to the side, I saw Amelia with a bow, her strike did not only save me but also momentarily disoriented the serpent.
Seizing this opportunity, Anastasia and Kent charged at the serpent, unleashing their most powerful attacks.
Unfortunately, even though the cyan-scaled serpent was stunned, it quickly invoked wind magic again.
A whirlwind of thousands of wind blades shot forward.
Reacting swiftly, Kent swung his scythe, and Anastasia raised her glowing golden fists, blocking or deflecting most of the wind blades. However...
Kach—!!
Thack—!!
"Arghhhaaaa!!" Kent crumpled to the ground when his right arm was cleanly severed by one of the wind blades.
Anastasia stepped forward to shield him, but another wind blade altered its course, striking her ribs from the left.
"Anghh!" She staggered back a single step in agony but kept her guard up against the sharp onslaught of invisible blades despite the rending pain in her ribs.
A few wind blades slipped past Anastasia, hurtling toward me, all of which I skillfully blocked with my jian.
Suddenly, a strange coldness filled the air. I shivered and instinctively whipped my head to look at Nero struggling to stand upright.
My eyes widened in shock as I saw what he was trying to do.
…He was summoning another Heavenly Sword! The Water Sword!
Maybe he was trying to manipulate the weather and freeze the rain to launch an ice attack. But the troubling fact was that he was keeping the Fire Sword summoned!
Oh, gods! Don't tell me… Was that maniac trying to dual cast?!
In this world, no one could cast two spells at the same time. That was the basic logic. But Nero Dekrauf shattered that logic in the novel.
At the age of twenty, Nero Dekrauf made history by becoming the first person to simultaneously cast two magic spells.
But that shouldn't be happening now. There were still two years before Nero could achieve such a feat!
Was fate fastening the destined events once again?
Shaking my head, I forcibly snapped out of my daze. This wasn't the time for thoughts like these. No, now was the time to fight!
I was not sure if Nero could pull off dual casting at this point in time, but I had to count on it!
After all, he was the protagonist.
With a resolute nod, I rushed forward at the cyan-scaled serpent in hopes of buying time – time that Nero could use.
Gritting my teeth, I stepped into the flurry of invisible wind blades and fiercely began swinging my sword.
Though the blades were nearly invisible in this raging rainstorm, I could vividly sense any threatening attack directed at me. It was kind of like a sixth sense that I had developed.
Relying solely on instinct, I navigated the whirlwind of wind blades while skillfully blocking any attack directed at me
The cyan serpent had recovered from its disorientation by now. Shaking its massive head, it fixed its gaze upon me.
When our eyes met, a glimmer of perverse madness clouded behind the veil of primal fury flickered in its reptilian eyes.
"Yes, asshole! Here I am!" I shouted. "Now, come at me!"
The serpent bared its fangs and lunged at me.
At the same time, I pulled back my sword and rushed forward.
Crimson electricity crackled around the length of my blade while the cyan serpent emitted a paralysis-inducing hiss.
This time, however, I bit a small chunk of my tongue. The sharp pain kept me from getting petrified and I continued my charge.
As the cyan serpent opened its jaws just a few meters away, trying to eat me alive, I unleashed a perfect horizontal slash, channeling every ounce of strength into the attack.
Thwaaack—!!
My sword struck one of the serpent's tusk-like fangs, cracking and severing it.
However, I was a split second too late to retract my right arm from the serpent's jaws.
Kach—!!!
The jaws snapped close, severing my arm, which the serpent quickly swallowed.
Undeterred by pain, I leaped a few meters to the side and used Silver Flames to regenerate my lost arm.
The serpent veered off, making a u-turn to lunge at me again. One fang was missing from its mouth but the primal fury burned fiercer in its eyes.
However, it was too late for the serpent.
A smirk cracked up my face as bolts of lightning flashed in the cloudy gray skies above.
The bolts of lightning converged in a single point, forming a gigantic lightning dragon.
This time, it wasn't alone.
Raindrops clustered together, compressing into crystal ice, shaping another winged creature – an Ice Dragon.
At that moment, Nero, with both his swords pointed skyward, shouted at me, "Lucas, get ready!"
And then, all hell broke loose.
