Point-of-View: Cusnai Bronztan

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Killing this guy is in our best interest...it's not ideal, but we have to ensure our own survival, and the Rustlands is severely lacking in firepower right now...we need all the advantages we can get, and taking out one of our enemies' most powerful pieces would definitely be a huge, sorely-needed advantage.

"Now, attack!" I exclaimed, as I flung one of my spears straight at him like a javelin, running lightning into it as I did.

After getting boosted by Corruption Magic, I'm a fair bit stronger now, and I can use Lightning Boost at upto x4.8...and yet, he evaded it with ease, as Niski Torfa shot towards him, firing out a couple of lightning bolts at him, while Minise Mefvis wrapped flames around her fists and charged at him from behind.

Niski Torfa, the current number six S-Rank...despite missing her left arm, she was quite formidable, capable of using Lightning Boost at x3 following a power boost from Corruption Magic, and she was also highly skilled in swordplay, she used a rapier as her main weapon and was extremely efficient with it.

Minise Mefvis, the current number four S-Rank, and former number three S-Rank of Bronztan, as well as one of my closest friends. She had blonde hair tied up in a ponytail and bangs that fell over her forehead and partially covered her eyebrows, with dark blue streaks dyed into the bangs. She had chains wrapped around her forearms, which she used as weapons.

Speaking of which, her skills were no joke either...her hand to hand combat was the best in Bronztan, no one else even came close, and she'd only gotten even stronger and faster following the Corruption Magic power boost. Her Fire Magic was about average in terms of scale and output, but it was high in intensity, and she made full use of that.

As Niski closed in on Sylvar, she unleashed a barrage of rapid, agile thrusts at him, but he dodged them all without breaking a sweat...Niski then halted her attack and swiftly backed away, getting some distance as Minise sprang up behind the Elf.

He swiftly spun around and dodged as she threw a punch at his face, her fist driving past his head...before she rapidly pulled her arm back, the flames intensifying around her fist as she tried to grab the back of his neck and scorch it...but right before she could, he quickly dropped to ground and avoided it, before planting his palm on the ground and swinging himself up, his foot barreling up towards her at a blinding speed.

She sprang back in alarm while crossing her forearms in front of herself defensively, wrapping intense flames around her arms as she did. His foot slammed onto her crossed arms and sent her flying back and crashing onto a tree by the opening of the forest area, coughing out blood with a gasp of pain as the tree cracked and fell over.

He's seriously strong, and more than fast enough to effortlessly react to our attacks...and it doesn't look like he's taking this seriously at all, he's holding back a lot...but it looks like he's taken some damage from kicking Minise...the flames around her arms burnt the bottom of his right foot, which was trembling slightly, a pained expression on his face.

He's strong, stronger than us...but if we can hurt him, then we can beat him! It's definitely not going to be easy though. I reached into the pouch on my lower back and pulled out a vial...let's see how effective this is against him. I zipped towards him at top speed, charging lightning into my spear as fast as I could.

"Don't get ahead of yourselves, I don't even need to use my Wind Magic to defeat the likes of you!" He declared, as I flung the vial straight at him, which he began to knock away with his hand, scoffing, "What, so now you're resorting to throwing things, how pitif-."

He was interrupted by a loud explosion as, the moment he touched the vial, it exploded in a fiery ball of flames. The glass that that vial is made of has a spell cast on it...when Mana is run into it, it becomes extremely brittle. And the liquid inside is highly volatile, the instant it gets exposed to oxygen...BOOM!

So, yeah, I ran my Mana through it before tossing it, and when he tried to knock it away, the vial cracked immediately on impact and exposed the liquid inside to the air, which then exploded. Did that do the trick? I'm not counting on it, that's why my spear is all charged up, this should do some good damage. As I shot towards the dust cloud with my spear crackling violently...

"Damn it, you little bitch!" Exclaimed a trembling, furious voice, as wind burst out from the point of the explosion, blowing away the dust cloud that had risen up.

As I closed in and swung my spear towards his neck, I suddenly found myself flying back at a breakneck speed, losing grip of my spear and letting out a cry of pain as my back hit the ground with a resounding impact...I think I cracked a rib, this really hurts, damn it...

Two of the A-Ranked Adventurers then sprang up on either side of him, one with a fireball and the other with a sphere of wind. As they both drove their attacks towards him simultaneously, he swiftly took a step back to evade them, their attacks clashing against each other, the wind enhancing the flames and causing them both to lose control of their attacks, letting out screams of pain as their arms got scorched.

As they collapsed onto the ground in agony, Sylvar swiftly grabbed their heads tightly with a grimace, his hands over their mouths...and then, their bodies suddenly expanded like balloons...before violently bursting in massive, bloody explosions, a heavy red mist surrounding the Elf as blood rained down and splattered all over the grass around him.

Did he...did he just pump them full of wind till they popped? This is insane, all he needs to do is grab hold of us and that's it, we're as good as dead. And I highly doubt he's going all out, or using even close to his full power...and that's a terrifying notion. How do we defeat someone this powerf-?

Before I could finish my thought, Lidui sent a water slash at him, which he dissipated with a blast of wind. She continued walking towards him, a reluctant look on her face.

"Have you lost it or something? Well, fine by me, if you've got a death wish, I'll be happy to grant it for you," Remarked Sylvar, forming a wind blade as she began to near him.

And then, she swiftly pulled out a couple of Spell Cards, first forming a large, cylindrical closed barrier around the two of them, before pointing the second spell at him...and blasting out a massive amount of water, knocking him down as a look of surprise and alarm appeared on his face, the barrier rapidly filling with water in a matter of seconds.

Sylvar looked slightly dazed, looking around before swimming towards the wall of the barrier...when suddenly, Lidui shot towards him rapidly, striking his left side and leaving a gash there, bubbles bursting out from his mouth as the water near his wound got dyed red.

Holy, crap, she's insanely fast underwater...and her gills are moving, she must be able to breathe underwater too. He frantically began looking around for her, as she shot towards him from behind, more bubbles bursting out of his mouth as she left deep slashes in his back.

She's zipping around too quickly underwater for him to follow, each of her attacks strike before he even has time to regain his bearings from the previous attack...and he's running out of air, I'll bet...unless Elves don't need oxygen. But from his expression, I'd say that's not the case.

And then, following her fourth strike, Lidui opened her third eye, as she rapidly swam towards Sylvar, who was getting more and more dazed with every strike.

She struck his right elbow this time, as he managed to twist himself across to avoid a deeper wound...the moment she struck him, his elbow became all grotesque and mangled, looks like she must have used Corruption Magic, but it's also looking like he's starting to figure out her timing...she has a clear advantage, and yet, I'm getting a really bad feeling here...

"Miss Lidui, kill him quickly!" I yelled, desperately hoping that she could hear me.

She then plunged in towards him from behind, her right arm drawn back, as if she was aiming to pierce it right through his chest from behind...and as she began to close in on him...she suddenly got sent flying back as he unleashed a massive explosion of wind from himself, the water rapidly and violently churning around, before shattering the barrier like glass.

The water burst out and spread throughout the area, a sense of dread enveloping me as the water rose all the way upto my knees, before slowly dropping lower as it spread out.

Damn it...this is bad, if he starts going all out, we're completely screwed. Lidui created a genuine chance for victory, but that chance is gone now. No...no...I won't let that opening go to waste, not if I can help it...!

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