Chapter 51

Nightfall

A perfectly spherical ball of flames slowly covered the boy’s body. As it grew, the radiance of his fire gradually outshined the scarlet twilight. The red sky became almost invisible to his fire. It shone so brightly as the scorching heat permeated through the clearing. Even the soil underneath melted. Soon, orange bubbles surfaced as his feet gradually sunk.

A few more seconds and the fire shrunk, yet the intense heat remained the same. The boy became distorted and swaying before Vlanca and Kasheda’s eyes. The magnitude of his power alone seemed to have bent light around him.

Vlanca, despite the pain of severe burns in her body, watched everything cautiously. Her eyes gleamed in grit. Her upper and lower jaw pressed hard against each other. There’s no use in crying now. She’d just do everything she had to save the boy.

Suddenly, the boy screamed. He jumped on his staff and thrust towards Kasheda with significant momentum. The molten magma also rose from the ground. It followed him like a flowing liquid with its own sentience.

The kordovan queen immediately flew away as she transformed back to her human form. White markings appeared on her legs and arms. She threw Pasifae higher into the air before casting a strong gust of wind to blow him away.

The magma expanded like a blanket and shielded the boy from the attack. He then continued to press forward while aiming to punch the queen with his small fist. It changed its form again. Now, into a whip. It clung to Kasheda’s legs, releasing some smoke.

Kasheda tried to get away but the whip held her tightly. The fist connected. The queen held her breath for a moment until she realized that she didn’t even feel the punch.

Then boom…

A powerful explosion echoed and blew Kasheda and Arthur away. Vlanca, on the other hand, caught Pasifae’s frozen body before it came in contact with the ground.

Kasheda landed first as faint light emanated from her body. If not for her quick judgment, she wouldn’t have invoked a defensive spell on time to mitigate most of the damage.

Vlanca then left Pasifae unguarded and leaped towards the boy. She held him in place before she could move again. He rocked his arms and legs and protested, but the girl persevered despite the heat leaking from the boy.

She screamed, corneas bulging out of her eyes. The magma clumped behind her and burned her back. Still, she didn’t let go. With tears under her eyes, she restricted the boy’s mobility.

“Vlanca!” Kasheda shouted, prompting the girl to leap away. As soon as she did, a large mound of soil covered Arthur and caged him inside.

“Not yet…” The queen whispered as she cast the same spell again. Without even catching her breath from the non-stop incantation, she invoked it again. She knew that the boy could get away as soon as she stopped. The boy kept burning the earth cage. But that’s what she needed, she just had to buy time.

For the nth time that day, a violent blast resonated. It crumpled Kasheda’s feeble earth magic and the boy was once again free.

But Kasheda and Vlanca were ready. While unable to see the boy because of the smoke, they easily pinpoint his location by following the trace of his mana. Vlanca grabbed the boy’s feet while Kasheda grasped his hands and neck.

As smoke and dust dissipated, Arthur released another explosion to blow the two away. Their grip didn’t loosen, however. Kasheda had already enveloped them in a thick layer of wave magic to weaken the attack.

For a moment, the boy and Kasheda’s eyes met. Then the boy screamed. Her heart skipped beats. Her grip on his neck tightened. He shouted again, now less loudly. Yet Kasheda could vaguely understand what it meant - a desperate plea for help. It was as though the boy was begging anyone to end his suffering.

Kasheda’s grip tightened again. Her sight never left the boy whose tears vaporized as soon as they formed under his eyes. Suddenly, Vlanca pulled her away from Arthur, barely stopping her from breaking his neck. If not for the demon girl, Kasheda would have caught the laser fire from the boy - a beam of bluish fire that even reached the heavens.

“Are you alright, sir?” Vlanca asked even though her state was far worse than her.

Kasheda couldn’t answer the question. For a queen who prided herself in self-control, she almost took the boy’s life. She almost caused the downfall of her kin for personal reasons.

As Kasheda contemplated such things, loud buzzing sounds echoed from above. Finally, their reinforcements arrived. Queen Kaleva, Kareya, Kapeha, Kabera, and Kahesa landed before Kasheda, their sizes significantly smaller than before. It seemed that when Dedalus stole the Ancient Enchantment, the effects swiftly affected the Queen’s anatomy. Probably the reason why they came so late.

“So it’s this… creature?” Kareya said as soon as her eyes landed on Arthur. “What a small one to contain such enormous mana.”

“And it's a human child, right?” Kapeha said, staring at the boy whose body was almost completely burned under his magic.

Kahesa scoffed. “Doesn’t look like one. Yet he looked as fragile. Will be pretty easy to kill-”

The boy shot a bolt of lightning at the proud queen, forcing her to leap away. He then followed it up with a blast of scorching blue fire which Kahesa dodged again.

“We’re not to kill him, Queen Kahesa,” Kapeha said sharply as he also leaped towards the boy. She pinned his body on the ground while making sure not to exert too much force. “Else, all the Kordovas will perform a mass suicide.”

“I know r-”

“Queen Kaleva!” Kapeha declared as she flew away, shedding her leg to keep the boy on the ground.

“Yes!” Kaleva answered nervously, and then she yelled, “Hasudna’Karu!”

Without a second, Kapeha, Kahesa, Kasheda and Vlanca dropped on the ground. A strong pulling force pulled them on the ground while the dust and hoots also dropped around them.

“The hell are you doing!” Kahesa shouted in annoyance as she saw the boy get up and burn Kapeha’s amputated feet. “You’re supposed to immobilize the boy! Not us!”

“Sorry! Sorry!” the poor queen apologized several times as she lifted the effect of the spell. “I have only seen it twice… I don't truly know how this works!”

Kahesa scoffed again. “We shouldn’t have trusted you.”

She looked back on the boy who had already summoned numerous fireballs. Liquified molten rock also flowed around him, as though making sure that none of the Queen would try holding him down on the ground again. Once he commanded the fireballs to move and attack, Kasheda, Kabera, Kahesa, and Kapeha dodged some with ease while deflecting the remaining ones. The rookie queens, on the other hand, Kaleva and Kareya, desperately dodged while letting out Oohs and Aahs in their wake.

With how their body changed now, there’s no assurance that their carapace could still withstand the attack. As much as they hated to admit, the boy might be very fragile but his destructive power remained an anomaly.

As such, the queens decided to be cautious.