Soon, all the youths had entered the black box beneath Erik, which had several floors. The moment the last one stepped in, a huge magical circle appeared below, forming a large Myst platform. As the giant box delved into the darkness, Erik glanced at the massive box in the center of the hall, which was about to give way, and said in a serious tone.
"Let's go!"
As everyone nodded, the enormous box began moving at high speed down the corridor. Simultaneously, all the golems in the hall activated, ready for combat, and the turrets prepared to explode. Soon, the metal crate finally succumbed to a brutal explosion that sent metal pieces flying in all directions like a gigantic grenade.
"The turrets and grenades exploded at the same time!!"
At that moment, Christine announced solemnly as she abruptly stood up to firmly grasp her staff. Meanwhile, Erik turned to look at the blurry images from the few surviving Combat Probes, where only thick smoke and dark clouds exchanging lightning bolts were visible. Golems with varying levels of damage could also be seen running toward the center.
But at that instant, in one corner of a screen showing an almost completely blurred image, Erik noticed a subtle glimmer that made him narrow his eyes and turn his head toward the distant hall. Although his Mystic Awareness was blocked within the corridor, Erik could sense a subtle change in the Myst from afar, making him inhale sharply.
At the same time, Erik turned to look at Elara, Zoe, and Christine beside him, then nodded to himself and took a step forward. Puzzled by Erik's actions, Elara couldn't help but look at him and ask, somewhat confused.
"What's wrong, Erik?"
"Everyone, start casting barriers with everything you've got."
Erik commented in a solemn tone as he retrieved the machetes from his original armor from his storage bag. All the mages quickly nodded and took up their staffs, and Elara promptly gave orders to the mages inside the box. In the cramped box, the mages took their staffs and swiftly began conjuring barriers to surround the box, careful not to step outside the gas lamp's light field.
Yet, even as she created barriers and gave orders, Elara couldn't help but glance at Erik out of the corner of her eye with a suspicious expression, which soon spread to Zoe and Christine. But before anyone could say anything else, from the distant hall, everyone could see motes of light gathering to form a huge sphere of light, which then fired a colossal laser toward them.
Almost instantaneously, the laser reached the barriers, shattering all the dark tentacles that appeared in its path and managing to shred the barriers after a few moments of resistance. With her heart pounding and feeling death before her, Christine couldn't help but turn to look at the man who had promised to protect her, but he was no longer there.
Panicking, Christine turned to look everywhere as the laser beam loomed over them and easily spotted that magnetic young man with starry hair. He was leaping toward the laser with his machetes in hand, almost as if he wanted to be the first to die. At that moment, three female voices filled with horror echoed in the dark corridor as everyone was blinded by the light.
"""Erik!!!!"""
As if the world had slowed down, everyone inside and outside the box watched the star-haired young man being consumed by the light with eyes full of disbelief. But before they could even process what was happening, a great change occurred. Like strobe lights, the light began flashing intensely, allowing everyone to see Erik's figure once more.
Standing on a Myst platform, the star-haired young man pointed his machetes—flickering with darkness and electricity—at the enormous laser beam, then performed an incredibly fluid and elegant circular motion in slow motion, completing a full turn. But as if the machetes were a magical baton, the laser beam followed the movement and, defying all logic, curved around the box before returning to Erik.
"Pure brute force without technique. Pathetic."
As if it were a hallucination, all those present could hear Erik's voice full of contempt. At that moment, from the corridor, everyone could see a man approaching at high speed. The man's armor was in tatters, but he himself appeared unharmed, without any visible wounds, which tightened the spectators' hearts.
But just as the man was halfway through, destroying all the tentacles in his path, Erik finished his turn, ending with his machetes pointed at the man. Following the motion, the laser beam, as if passing through a lens, compressed and shot toward the man, reaching its target almost instantly and sending him flying back into the hall.
Just then, a beautiful silver fox appeared behind Erik and pulled him back by the collar of his shirt, soon landing on the Myst platform where Zoe and the others were. At that moment, three beautiful young women rushed to Erik's front, trying to check on him, while a dark figure shot out of the box at full speed.
"Erik!!"
Landing on the Myst platform, Tomás shouted urgently, then saw a small smile on the face of the seated, star-haired young man, who was staring intently at the brutal explosion occurring in the hall. At that moment, Erik commented in a calm and confident tone as he stood up from the floor.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. That guy has terrible technique; Liliana is a thousand times better. I can send back anything he throws."
"You're a monster…" Tomás couldn't help but comment with a somewhat relieved smile on his face.
Meanwhile, Christine stared mesmerized at Erik as his words about never letting a child or an innocent woman die before him echoed in her head. But that echo seemed to synchronize with the rapid beating of her heart, which now raced for a completely different reason. At that moment, Zoe commented in a serious tone, snapping Christine out of her reverie.
"Don't ever do something like that again, Erik. Especially without telling us first."
"Sorry, I didn't have time to. Hmm?"
Erik replied calmly, but as he finished, he couldn't help but notice the expression of absolute disbelief on Chen's face. The youth from the Lotus Union was looking at the hall, almost petrified, as if refusing to believe what he had just seen, which inevitably led Erik to ask curiously.
"What happened, Chen?"
"That man just now… I know him."
Chen almost whispered, still struggling to believe what he had just said, causing everyone to turn and look at him in surprise. But before anyone could say anything, a humanoid figure shot out of the hall again, forcing Erik to set everything aside and urgently order as the lamp's light field saturated with Myst.
"Damn it, attack with everything you've got!!"
Quickly, everyone began attacking from a distance with all they had while conjuring barriers, creating brutal explosions throughout the corridor. These caused countless dark tentacles to appear, attacking both the light field and the approaching man. But at that moment, through the tide of explosions, everyone caught a glimpse of the man making a hand seal, then pointing toward them with his right hand.
From his fingers, a laser barely a few centimeters in diameter shot toward Erik, arriving before him almost instantly, piercing through the barriers as if they were paper. As everyone on the platform turned to look at Erik almost in slow motion, expressions of despair forming on their faces, the star-haired young man remained calm.
Moving with a speed that should be impossible for his level, Erik barely managed to assume a defensive posture with his machetes reminiscent of a mountain, while a runic circle formed before him almost instantly. From the runic circle emerged what seemed to be a darkness octopus that interposed itself between Erik and the laser, only to be destroyed instantly.
But, though destroyed, the darkness octopus managed to take with it at least a third of the laser's power, which soon struck Erik's machetes head-on. As if hit by a cannonball, Erik was sent flying backward while dark tentacles lunged to pierce him. But mere centimeters from his body, the tentacles petrified, and at that moment, Erik performed a flip in the air.
Creating a Myst platform mid-air, Erik propelled himself back toward the lamp's light field while mentally ordering it not to follow him. Simultaneously, the man in the corridor levitated, and after performing two hand seals, 12 spheres of light—soon transforming into lasers—shot toward Erik from different directions, tracing parabolic trajectories in the air.
Erik's pupils dilated to their limit upon seeing the attack, and almost instantly, 24 runic circles appeared in the paths of the lasers. As Erik's face paled considerably, darkness octopuses emerged from half the magical circles, while from the other half came small, spinning spheres of pure darkness resembling black holes.
Synchronized, the octopuses lunged in front of the lasers, taking a significant portion of their power with their destruction, at which point the spheres managed to bend the light a few degrees. Thanks to the deflection and distance, the lasers narrowly missed the pale Erik, who, with his hair glowing at full power, accelerated the Myst platforms with all his might.
(Motherfucker...)
But determined to finish him off, the man in the air performed four hand seals, creating dozens of light spheres that shot like lasers toward Erik in seemingly unpredictable trajectories. With a solemn expression, Erik gritted his teeth and mobilized all his mana and the surrounding Myst, but at that moment, the backs of several youths appeared before him.
"Protect Erik with your lives!!!!"
As Tomás's voice resonated powerfully, barriers, flying slashes, and shields rose around Erik, who couldn't help but open his eyes in surprise. But quickly, Erik's expression turned focused, and soon runic circles began appearing in various places, from which darkness octopuses and black holes emerged to deflect the lasers that managed to pierce the desperate defense.
Thanks to the joint effort, the group managed to evade the attack and land back within the light field, just as a turn arrived, causing them to lose sight of the terrifying man for a moment. At that moment, Tomás wanted to turn and check on Erik's condition, but before he could, hundreds of thin lasers rounded the corner, aiming directly at Erik.
"Try to intercept them from a distance!!!"
At that moment, Erik leaped into the air and shouted forcefully while hundreds of runic circles appeared to intercept the lasers, which quickly adjusted their trajectories toward him like guided missiles. Following Erik's orders, the entire group of youths unleashed all their power toward the lasers while darkness octopuses and black holes deflected those that slipped through.
But as he sank into a shadow portal created by Tiberius, Erik turned to look at one of his runic circles. While covering himself with his machetes, Erik watched as a runic circle responsible for creating a black hole to deflect a laser short-circuited and exploded. Without the black hole, the weakened laser continued straight toward his chest, which he barely managed to block with his machetes. But upon impact, the laser beam exploded like a bomb.
"""Erik!!!!"""
(Debugging really isn't something one person can do alone…)
As desperate voices echoed throughout the place, the machetes flew off in different directions. Meanwhile, Erik was sent flying backward, a somewhat resigned smile on his face as an almost absurd thought formed in his mind. Using every ounce of his mana, Tomás shot toward Erik, trying to catch him, but when he was mere centimeters away, a beam of light passed by his side and took Erik away.
"Truly worthy of the greatest geniuses of the young generation. I never expected to end up in this state because of you…"
Above everyone, within the light field, appeared a man with his equipment completely destroyed, his face exposed, and various wounds on his body—the most significant being a huge hole in his stomach surrounded by a trail of light healing visibly. The man held Erik by the neck, who had lost his right arm, while his left arm was completely charred, his chest was burned and caved in, and the visible part of his face was practically carbonized.
But as fear, worry, and terror settled in the hearts of all present, Chen Ming stepped forward and looked at the man in the air with an inscrutable expression. However, upon seeing the starry-haired young man on the brink of death in the man's hands, Chen Ming's eyes filled with anger and indignation. At that moment, he shouted in the language of the Lotus Union, staring directly at the man in the air.
"General He Yuan!! What is the meaning of this?!!! Are you seeking the extermination of our clans?!!!!!"
***
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