Chapter 73

73 The outcome of the fight

Finn activated several abilities at once, elevating his physical abilities beyond what his body was capable of handling for a short period of time, causing his muscles to come dangerously close to rip with every move he made. Finn gambled everything on the slim chance of killing Athos quickly, or at least seriously injuring him and fleeing to where Emilia was.

They exchanged blows continuously, Finn advancing further and further, taking advantage of his superior speed to pressure him. Athos remained on the defensive, occasionally attacking while retreating one step at a time.

The dagger was clearly more powerful than his sword, cutting through slivers of mana with each switch, but Athos continually injected more mana and regenerated it. Finn took advantage of an opening in Athos’ guard, piercing the dagger in the middle of his right hand and twisting it before pulling hard, breaking the hand and sending all of his fingers except his thumb flying.

“You took my right hand, you can’t complain if I cut yours off.” Finn said mockingly, trying to provoke Athos. He took a big step forward, slashing with the dagger in one sweeping motion, at the same time releasing an aura blade.

Athos jumped back as he conjured a gale from his left hand, taking advantage of the lightness of his body and propelling himself to the right, out of Finn’s reach. Finn was still more experienced than he was in combat and there was no reason to continue risking hand-to-hand combat.

“You will not run away!” Finn chased him across the floor to make sure Athos didn’t stray too far. Without the conjuration ring, he would be helpless if Athos walked away and attacked him purely with magic.

“Lightning connection!” Athos screamed still in the air, pointing his broken right hand at Finn. Black bolts gathered in the palm of his hand, but he didn’t fire them right away. Finn stopped his run midway, keeping some distance from Athos so he could dodge the attack as soon as it was launched.

...a big mistake.

“GAHAAA?!” Finn screamed in pain and surprise, feeling the electricity burn through his entire body. What Finn didn’t realize is that Athos moved deliberately, knowing that Finn would chase him. Just behind Finn, Athos’ severed fingers still cling tightly to the corrupted mana sword.

.....

The lightning connection spell consisted of two parts, one cast into your hand and the other on the opposite side of the target. Athos’ palm was charged with a positive charge, while the other hand would be charged with a negative charge. Both rays would attract each other, hitting the target in the middle.

When Athos cast the lightning connection, he used his mana body trait to alter the sword, changing the world’s mana to pure wind element before firing at his unprotected back. He shouted out the spell’s name deliberately to draw Finn’s attention to himself.

Athos used his willpower to keep the bolt trapped in his palm, until the bolt hit him from behind. Just then he released the bolt, hitting Finn a second time and knocking him to the ground and causing him to roll several times before coming to a stop, black smoke billowing from his body. His skin was charred and the organs underneath weren’t in the best shape.

His blood evaporated, his muscles burned from the lightning’s high voltage, and his organs rotted into darkness. To add insult to injury, the effect of activating multiple abilities simultaneously wore off and his body took the hit.

The ligaments in the joints of his legs tore, the muscle tissue in his arms tore, his ribs broke puncturing his internal organs, and the blood vessels in his eyes burst, leaving him completely blind.

Finn was on the verge of death, agonizing in silence as his vocal cords were torn, but Athos showed no mercy. He watched silently as Finn agonized and only approached when the shadows of the death vision showed Athos that Finn was dead.

The vision of death revealed to Athos how close one was to dying, or how weakened one was in the form of shadows across the body. Athos could see shadows accumulating in people’s wounds, or in cases like Caio’s, it revealed how weakened he was.

For some reason, the skill didn’t work on people without mana like villagers, but it would be very useful against powerful enemies he would face in the future. Athos suspected that with enough training, the vision of death would not only reveal wounds, but vulnerable points on enemies.

Athos walked over to Finn’s corpse looking triumphant, the skin on his face stretching into a devilish grin. He placed his hand on Finn’s chest and stole mana until his core filled up again. This would lessen his power when he was turned into a skeleton, but Athos did not intend to keep him for long.

Athos turned him into an undead after regaining his mana so easily that he was surprised. Finn’s affinity for darkness facilitated the process, turning him into an undead in record time. Finn’s skeleton had not suffered serious damage except for the fingers of his right hand which Athos quickly put in place and healed.

The black skeleton stood up, only for Athos to punch him in the face and knock him down again.

“Sorry, it was reflex. Follow me, we have to get out of here.” Athos said not at all sorry for what he had done. He climbed onto a roof before starting to run towards the town square, Finn quickly following.

‘Sevenus, how is it going on your side? I’m done here.’ Athos asked through the mind link. He felt the life force building up repeatedly as he fought Finn, but he didn’t have time to catch up on the situation.

‘!! My lord, have you won? As expected, these mage slayers are nothing close to their greatness!’ Sevenus sent it back, his voice showing just how fascinated he was.

‘Report, now. How are things on your side?’ Athos cut him off quickly, before Sevenus could flatter him further.

‘The battle is going well. The guards tried to resist at first, but they were quickly killed thanks to the alchemical items you provided me. The citizens despaired after seeing the guards who were supposed to protect them turning into undead and ran to the west gate, where the mage skeletons and the other half of the undead were waiting for them.’ Sevenus said, his flattering tone fading as he spoke seriously.

‘And then?’ Athos said arriving at the town square and finding only blood and debris everywhere. In the distance, he could see thousands of undead attacking the citizens. People were desperately fighting for their lives, but the undead were relentless. Whenever a group of citizens started to organize, they would hurl themselves at them and detonate their own cores, killing over a dozen and clearing the way for more skeletons to attack.

‘The battle is going well. I’m saving my mana to fight the mage slayers, but the mage skeleton are emptying their cores against the fleeing population and have already killed a few hundred.’ Sevenus replied.

‘And the mage slayer? Hasn’t shown up yet?’ Athos asked suspiciously. The worst case scenario for him would be for the mage slayer to flee without a fight and leave his companions to die. This would alert the country and put a target on its back sooner than planned, thwarting its plans.

‘I am also worried, my lord. If the mage slayer was going to fight, he would have revealed himself long ago. After all, the more time passes, the stronger our army becomes and the less chance it has of surviving. I’m afraid he’s decided to run away. I took the liberty of ordering the skeleton birds to guard the wall, but they still haven’t seen anything.’ Sevenus reported worriedly.

Sevenus had been ordered to deal with the mage slayer and in his head, if the enemy fled it would be considered his fault regardless of the results he got in battle. Sevenus shuddered at the thought of failing, but what terrified him was the thought of Athos’ anger being directed at him.

Athos pondered for some time, before remembering Gaius and the situation he was in. ‘Maybe he didn’t run away. Perhaps he went to rescue a wounded comrade.’

‘Sevenus, send the killer skeleton to meet me at the place where I killed him, I have a plan in mind. I think I know where the enemy is.’ Athos mentally ordered.

‘As you command!’ Sevenus replied, unable to contain his enthusiasm. If Athos took on the task of killing the mage slayer himself, he would not have to take any blame in case of failure.

‘You come too. The battle is already guaranteed, there’s no reason for you to just stand there and watch’ Athos said, making the glow in Sevenus’ orbits go out.

‘Come on, we have to kill the last of you.” Athos said to Finn, making the last one tremble for a few seconds. He looked like he was struggling desperately, but it was a futile effort. The black chain that bound his mind made him feel like a drowning person on the verge of reaching the surface, giving false hope that he would be able to free himself if he kept trying.

It was a cruel trap, coiling and squeezing the victims’ minds, just like a snake trapping its prey.

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