Reality hit Dallion like a ton of bricks. It didn’t matter how much he thought he’d prepared; the change ripped away everything he knew, replacing the worst parts of his memory and then some.

INHABITANT DEAD

The city of ALLIANCE has lost 1 inhabitant!

Death rectangles kept on flowing around him, faster than he would have liked, though not as bad as it could have been.

The mage, he told himself. For there not to be a repeat of the previous attack, he had to find the ship and deal with the mage.

Time crawled slowly as Dallion’s mind trait kicked in. The latest temporary settlement had grown enough for him to be able to control the area. Before his fight against Giaccia, he had meant to transform it into an island with which to attack. Now, he knew he didn’t have to. The greatest issue—the only real issue when it came to domain ruler combat—was the living resource. The nymphs had ships, but didn’t own anything beyond them. For Dallion to counter their water abilities, he had to spread out into the sea, for which he needed large contingents of troops—at least five thousand each.

You can change the size of your domains, Giaccia reminded him from his personal realm. There’s no reason to keep them round.

Just like at the vortex fields.

Yes, just like there. Dallion could hear her smile. A domain is no different from an item, just on a larger scale. You control everything that it part of it, including its boundaries.

This was the first he heard of that. Then again, the nymphs had discovered a lot more that people gave them credit for. Their patron wasn’t the Moon of the mind, but that didn’t make them any less creative, especially since they were led by an otherworder.

Concentrating on the area bubble of Sinkhole, Dallion squeezed.

DOMAIN CHANGE

The domain of SINKHOLE has become irregular.

You might not be able to use its full capabilities in that state.

“Interesting warning,” Dallion said, looking at the red rectangle.

It doesn’t mean much, Giaccia explained. I never even discovered what the full capabilities of a domain were. If Tia knew, she didn’t share.

No doubt the empress wouldn’t. On the other hand, it wasn’t like Dallion planned to use this domain other than a temporary asset. The only thing he’d take from it was the guardian.

The more he squeezed the domain bubble, the faster it moved. Careful not to affect the troops already there, Dallion focused on the far end, transforming the shape into a cone with a very long tip.

A ship shattered, sliced in three, the lines of destruction continuing further into the sea. Euryale had joined the fray with a bang. Three times the level of the average soldier, she made her presence known throughout the battlefield. Moments later, a second ship followed, destroyed in a similar fashion.

Hundreds of puppeted humans jumped off other vessels stuck on the new shore. Unfortunately for most of them, they were quickly transformed into statues by the approaching gorgons. More line attacks followed with dozens following Euryale’s example, focusing on one particular target. Several ships flew off, like a champaign cork, scattering crew members in the sea. The inertia slammed them into a few more vessels on their way, creating ripples of chaos on the battlefield.

It was tempting to say that Dallion’s efforts had paid off, but even these latest victories were far from turning the battle in his favor. Everything so far had been a battle for survival. The enemies remained more numerous and on the attack.

Another ray of destruction flashed, this time focusing on Dallion’s new island. Aware that neither water nor rock would be able to withstand a hit, Dallion quickly sunk the landmass beneath the ocean while keeping the water from flooding in.

It was a chaotic action, causing a lot of disruptions and not a number of casualties, but the majority were saved. More importantly, Euryale was fine as well. The ray flew above the island, continuing onward towards an uninhabited part of the coast.

INHABITANT DEAD

The city of SINKHOLE has lost 1 inhabitant!

A new wave of rectangles stacked up. That was the last straw. Focusing his efforts, Dallion extended the domain to the mage’s ship. Water grabbed the hull, like a giant tendril pulling it in.

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The action was sudden, causing the majority of the crew to lose balance. Simultaneously, Dallion flew forward to meet it.

What are you doing? the harpsisword asked. You don’t have to engage him directly.

Dallion didn’t reply. While his actions could be viewed as reckless, it saved time; and as he knew perfectly well, time was the last thing a powerful mage should be given.

Reaching out, he summoned the harpsisword. The new material made it shine as if it were made of light.

“Are you with me on this, Harp?” he asked.

The chords of the harpsisword vibrated in the form of an answer.

Spark! Dallion slashed the air in front of him, releasing a line attack.

The attack chopped off the masts of the ship in one go, causing the air currents to pull them off. A better view was revealed, allowing Dallion to spot the mage in question. He was the only one among the entire crew who was left standing. Short and skinny, the man was someone to whom no one would pay any attention. Graying hair covered his head, making him seem more like a clerk or accountant than anything else. The magic threads within him were impressive, though.

Dallion attempted to check out his level only to see a blank rectangle.

Know him, Adzorg? Dallion asked.

Possibly, the former archmage hesitated. There are some similarities, but it’s difficult to tell.

Who do you think it is?

The last real battlemage joined when he was fifteen. I only saw him a few times, but there’s a chance that might be him. If he is, there’s nothing for you to worry about. True, he’s a former prodigy, but he’s no match for Argus.

That wasn’t as much a relief as the old man thought it would be. While Dallion had defeated the Azure mage, there had been a massive number of casualties. By Dallion’s estimates, tens of thousands had perished before the emperor had launched his rockets. Here, he couldn’t afford a fraction of the losses.

Striking again with his harpsisword, Dallion sent a point attack towards the enemy mage. The Azure must have expected such a reaction, for he responded with a distortion spell, causing the attack to bend around him. A massive hole emerged on the deck, but the mage himself was safe.

Almost in perfect sync, he and Dallion went on to cast a series of spells, covering themselves with protection. Dallion was at a slight advantage, using his aura sword to also attack while casting. The distortion spell was rather potent, for while Dallion’s attacks wrecked what was left of the deck, not one of them managed to hit the mage.

Adzorg, what’s that spell? Aether layers surrounded Dallion.

His opponent had cast a few defense spells, but there was something abnormal about his magic threads. As much as one looked at them, there were no instructions, as if they weren’t real.

All battle mages have a unique ability they keep hidden from everyone else. That’s what makes them so good at what they do. Katka could manipulate her threads better than anyone else, though she didn’t make the cut.

Gleam, is it an illusion? Dallion asked as he cast an aether sphere around the battle mage. The spell worked as expected. Apparently, it was only when targeting him specifically when things went off.

Want me to go out and check? The shardfly asked with scary enthusiasm.

No! Remain with Di. I don’t want her doing anything stupid.

Always the babysitter, the familiar said in disappointment. He’s hiding something, but it might be just to protect his magic.

The aether sphere Dallion had created shattered.

Even as the cracks formed, Dallion continued with a barrage of line attacks using combat splitting to follow the direction of each one. The battle mage, on the other hand, had summoned what looked like a handful of marbles, one of which he threw forward.

Careful! The harpsisword moved on its own, slicing through the piece of glass. A purple explosion followed as the magic released within the item was released in the air.

“So that’s how you want to play,” Dallion frowned. The moment of the explosion, he had glimpsed the true nature of the item. It wasn’t a magic grenade, or anything as crude. Rather, it was nothing less than a sphere prison. One touch and Dallion would spend months, maybe years, trying to figure out a way to escape, by which time he would have been killed in the real world and the battle—very well lost. Well, two could play at that game.

Harp, can you take him? He flew back, seemingly on the defensive.

Someone with his skills? Easily.

Have fun.

The battle mage darted forward, believing to have gained the momentum. That proved to be a costly mistake. While he remained careful not to be in contact with the remains of the deck or any water, the ship had been partially pulled into Dallion’s domain, giving him control of the air itself.

“Welcome to my realm,” Dallion snatched the man out of reality.

Time split in two. In the real world, the mage kept on flying forward, ready to throw the rest of the sphere prisons at Dallion. In-between the two fractions of time, a battle had taken place. Dallion had witnessed Giaccia descend upon the unfortunate man in her full wrath. The battle wasn’t particularly long; it wasn’t even challenging. Gaining control of the waters in Dallion’s realm, she had quickly slammed a dozen waves onto her target. His protective spell had attempted to distort the force, but doing so was like stopping a tiger with a fly swatter.

With nothing to limit the waves, they broke down the mage’s defenses, tearing the magic patterns one by one. Realizing what was going on, the so-called former prodigy tried to counter with a ray of destruction spell, but that was easily deflected… just before Giaccia thrust her rapier through his chest.

TERMINAL STRIKE

Dealt damage is increased by 1000%

PERMANENT EFFECT - SEALED

WAZY REKEE’s awakening powers have been sealed.

Two red rectangles were all it took to show the fate that expected the former battle mage. The awakened realms had no room for him anymore. The devastation of the loss, combined with the even greater shock of not being able to use magic, would transform him, possibly crippling him for what was left of his life. Dallion couldn’t help but feel some pity, although after the devastation the ray spell had caused in the city, he wouldn’t lose much sleep over it. War came with a lot of death and casualties, even for empaths.

Losing control of the spell, gravity took hold of the mage, pulling him quickly down.

Instinctively, Dallion cast a spell to keep him in the air.

There’s no point, Adzorg said. The boy is gone. Without magic, death would be a mercy.

“No,” Dallion said.

It was tempting to agree and put an end to his life. There wouldn’t be any point, though. The threat had been eliminated—the mage wouldn’t be able to cast spells again, so there was no point in killing him. Yet, would he be able to keep him alive? Adzorg hadn’t been wrong. To a mage, losing magic was the same as losing the will to live.

Casting a calm spell, Dallion surrounded the mage in an aether sphere and lifted it high in the air. Once the battle was over, he could retrieve him for questioning. Until then, a lot more needed doing.

It’s a mistake, Adzorg insisted. It’s doubtful he knows much.

“Battle mages aren’t puppeted,” Dallion said.

Dear boy, if there was any danger he could reveal anything, the nymph empress would have made his head collapse in on itself.