Battlefield in the Mountains 3

William is closing in.

I reach the ground first, pressing my hands onto the earth and pouring mana into it.

William catches up immediately, raising a fireball.

At the moment William releases the fireball, the ground rises up to form a wall. The fireball collides with the earthen barrier and explodes.

Dirt doesn't burn easily.

A makeshift imitation of the metal fence I used against the bovine monster earlier—seems to have worked out well.

But controlling it is tricky—this isn't a move you can just throw out repeatedly.

William seems utterly confused about what just happened.

Now!

Surprised by my approach, he fires off fireballs one after another. I block them all with a wall of earth.

I extend earthen barriers around William as well, then launch myself into the air.

Startled, William detonates the explosion, shattering the surrounding walls.

Dust swirls up, enveloping everything around us.

Seizing the opportunity, I grab William from behind and latch onto him.

Aware of my presence, William turns around and raises both arms, assuming a defensive stance.

I grip his arm.

William confirms it and ignites flames along his entire arm.

The flames spread to my hand, but I extinguish them instantly.

"Huh?"

William stares, bewildered, his expression showing disbelief. Undeterred, he tries to reignite the flames, but this time, not even a flicker appears.

"Why?"

"Do you know what a vacuum is?"

"Vacuum?"

"Simply put, it's a place with less air than its surroundings. Since combustion requires air, removing the air prevents burning."

"That's... incredible..."

Actually, I wanted to remove only the oxygen from the air. I couldn't selectively target molecules, so I manipulated the entire air using wind magic—though it's hard to control.

It seems to only work around my own arms.

I'm moving the air too much. If this continues, blood will...

My hands, gripping William's arms, tear open and blood gushes out.

No time to spare. I'll decide this now.

I unleash a shockwave—William is struck by lightning.

"Ugh... impressive, Taro-san..."

With those words, William loses consciousness.

It was all just a shot in the dark, but it worked out well.

I catch William as he collapses.

Looking around, I saw both armies halted at a fairly close distance, staring at us.

The outcome of the battle was clear—Imperial forces let out a triumphant cry, while the Kingdom forces began retreating.

The Imperial forces started advancing.

Damn it, they've already started retreating—there's no need to pursue them further...

First, I have to take William to everyone else. But when I try to lift him and fly, I notice an unusual heat radiating from William's body.

No... could this be extremely high concentration of mana?

William's right arm begins emitting a powerful light. His clothing rips open, revealing a gemstone embedded in his arm.

You too... you've been affected!?

He tries to destroy the gemstone stuck to his arm, but it activates just a step too late.

A powerful explosion erupts, sending him flying.

He activates a wind spell to slow his descent.

"Ta...ro...u-san... run away..."

William's faint, rasping voice barely returns to consciousness.

From William's right arm, a torrent of flames bursts forth.

The flames move toward me as if they have a will of their own.

Too massive!

I activate a wind spell, aiming to counter it, but the flames push me back with overwhelming force.

While using the wind to weaken the flames, I prepare a large number of earth walls.

I release the wind spell and let the earth walls take the impact.

I need to figure out a way to stop that magic stone...

The flames collide with the earth wall and shatter. The broken flames reach all the way to the Imperial army behind them.

Fortunately, it seems no one was burned.

The Imperial army, energized by the massive flames, is completely drained and halts its advance.

In contrast, the Kingdom army regains its spirit and readies its weapons once more.

Either way, it's all the same. Is war really just like this...?

No, more pressing than that, there's no way to stop the magical gem on William's arm from going wild.

It's spewing out such an enormous amount of flame that we can't get near it. Besides, the magical energy will eventually run out.

That's not all.

As we've seen, that gem will ultimately burn William alive.

Right now, he's barely holding on with what little consciousness he has left, struggling to control it.

There's no choice but to close in, create a vacuum, and suppress the flames themselves. Then destroy the magic stone by absorbing its magical essence.

Reforming the melting earthen wall, I inch closer, step by step.

Just a little more—five more steps.

William notices me approaching and shifts upward into the air.

Bad move—this way, I'll be overwhelmed by a torrent of flames.

Even if I close in, he can still escape. Attempting to counter with wind magic is useless—the flames are too strong.

If it comes to this, I have no choice but to take a gamble—just for an instant... truly just an instant—knock that flame back with a stronger attack, then close in!

The powerful attack I have... Plasma Cannon.

As expected, William readies himself to spew flames. I prepare the Plasma Cannon in response.

I imagine my right arm transforming into a cannon.

I gradually infuse electrical energy into the air around me.

The air ionizes, splitting into electrons and ions. I gather and compress them completely.

Soon, enough accumulates.

A deafening, indescribable high-frequency hum fills the surroundings.

I pivot in response to William's timing as he unleashes flames.

An overwhelming wave of fire engulfs my vision.

So immense it appears to descend slowly.

I raise my right hand toward the center of the flames.

For a brief moment, it seemed as if light shot through the flames.

A thick beam of blinding brilliance surged forward, chasing after the flames.

Faster than the approaching fire, it raced upward, consuming the flames entirely.

No one could look away from that divine light.

The radiant beam completely extinguished the fire, leaving nothing but an empty sky.

William finally regained his vision and began searching for the enemy before him.

But he couldn't find anything.

Before he could scan the surroundings, he felt something touch his right arm.

Taro had flown in from the trailing edge of the streaking light.

With one eye closed, Taro touched William's arm.

In an instant, he absorbed the magical essence embedded in the gemstone on William's arm and released it into the atmosphere.

At the same time, the gemstone shattered into pieces.