After concentrating on his battle with Dristel and making sure not to get impaled by the wind javelins, Toz then focused on fusing the two elements. So he had inadvertently relaxed his mind a little too much after launching his grey flames at Dristel's ship, which was why the attack arrived right when he noticed it.
Toz hadn't expected anyone to interfere in his battle just yet since all the crew members were half-dazedly, barely managing to sit up, much less contribute to a battle on the level of the one between him and Dristel. Their fight had been overwhelmingly simple from an outside perspective, with spells and techniques flying back and forth with no apparent immediate danger to either party.
However, the force and control behind every attack weren't something ordinary or weak mages and fighters could compare to. If Toz slacked off a little too much or missed the wind javelins, he would get pierced by one before he knew it. And if Dristel didn't perfectly manage his martial energy expenditure, he would run out and end up defenseless without being able to do anything until the ship's barrier breaks.
For someone to interfere in a battle where a single mistake could lead to an eventual defeat, they had to possess the required skill.
And the person who attacked Toz proved their worth by successfully landing their attack.
The person who attacked Toz was Dristel's second lieutenant, the second strongest person in the fleet that pursued Toz, and the third strongest person in the entirety of Dristel's fleet. Although he wasn't as strong as the first lieutenant, Nester was still a mage at the eighth level. And in the current situation, he could be of greater help to Dristel than the first lieutenant, thanks to his inclination.
The attack had taken him by surprise, but Toz's fast reflexes alerted him quickly enough, and Toz dodged the pair of chains flying in his direction, stretching out to reach around him.
However, he couldn't relax because he avoided the chains just once. The chains curved and followed his trajectory, racing to catch up to him.
Toz used space magic to blink away from the pair of chains fervently chasing after him. Unfortunately, he hadn't noticed how chains had already spread out through the surrounding Void. The grey flames and Dristel had occupied Toz's attention up until the moment the chains tried to wrap around him, so Toz had been too busy to properly inspect his surroundings which had been empty and clear of obstacles just moments ago.
Toz noticed the chains around him as soon as he blinked through space, and he tried to avoid them. However, he wasn't quite fast enough, and a small piece of the chain wrapped around his ankle.
Toz instantly felt how the chain suppressed his mana and some of the strength of his body. Though, since only such a small piece of the chain had wrapped around such a small part of him, Toz's magic and strength were mostly unaffected. However, it was enough to startle Toz and reveal an opening.
If Toz focused and put in some effort, he would easily be able to break free from the chain around his ankle, but the opening he revealed led to a follow-up from his attacker.
Before Toz could break free from the chain, Nester swung his arms, flicking the chain like a whip and sending Toz crashing into the Starsling Kingdom's navy's flagship, the Dristel's ship.
Toz crashed into the deck with enough force to crack the boards and make him grunt in pain and lose his breath. The impact sent the nearby crew members flying. It didn't harm them, but they scrambled to get out of the way since they couldn't withstand the aftermath of their admiral's battle.
The crash didn't injure Toz, and he instantly got up to try and break free from the chain. However, despite appearances, the chain wasn't metal, and Toz's metal magic was useless on it.
Feeling slightly panicked since Dristel was on the other side of the ship, ready to attack him, Toz brought out his sword and swung it at the chain while filling it to the brim with fire mana, turning it into a lance of orange flames. His sword cut through the chain, and the part still attached to his ankle gradually dissipated.
Toz looked up toward Dristel, who had just blown away the remnants of the grey flames using his wind energy. Toz hadn't seen the collision between the two forces, so he didn't know how it happened, and he didn't have time to ponder it either as Dristel turned toward him.
Dristel didn't stop for even a second as he conjured a wind javelin and threw it at Toz.
Toz only had enough time to see that it would be futile trying to escape the ship into the Void due to the net of chains surrounding the boat before he had to defend against the Piercing Gale.
Although he was stuck on the ship, Toz could still use his magic like usual. However, the distance between himself and the source of the wind javelins was a lot shorter than it was when Toz was in the Void, and Toz only managed to obstruct the Piercing Gale's path when it was less than an arm's length away from blasting through his head.
Toz didn't know why the chain user didn't directly interfere with the fight, but he was grateful for it since even the slightest distraction or interference with his ability to wield magic would end badly for Toz.
Toz barely hadn any time to gather his bearings before the next wind javelin arrived in front of him, but he managed to block that one as well. However, the two javelins had served their purpose as Dristel had managed to close the gap between himself and Toz. Shortening the distance was usually the only thing a fighter specialized in close-quarters combat would have to do in order to defeat a mage suited for battles of greater reach.
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