"He already took two of them down?"
"It's to be expected. What's more shocking is that he took them down with just a normal mana bullet."
Despite the high-speed battle, the guild masters had no problems following what was happening. So, they were able to see Sonic appearing behind Kazu, punching towards the latter.
'Fast.'
"You should not let your guard down on a battlefield."
Multiple barriers appeared behind Kazu as they slowed down Sonic's punch.
CRACK
However, all of them cracked instantly.
"I could say the same to you." Kazu barely ducked a punch without looking back and fired multiple magic bullets point-blank.
Sonic disappeared from his position, dodging the bullets. 'He is too fast for me to lock him in one place.' Kazu turned his attention to Lily, who was looking at him.
"I didn't know that basic magic spells could be this deadly, especially with so little Ethernano." She said with a coy smile.
Kazu scoffed. "I prefer spells with more applicability rather than flashy factor. Just like you." Blue Ethernano covered his palms as he clapped.
WHOOSH
Wind pressure generated from his palms pushed away all the air around him.
"Tch. Despite being young, you seem pretty experienced." Lily changed her position. She had secretly released invisible poison in the air and sent it towards Kazu. However, the latter had already sensed it.
Multiple magic bullets appeared around Kazu as they rushed at Lily.
'These guys are pretty coordinated.' Kazu raised his leg and stomped on the ground.
The ground violently shook, stopping Sonic from his charge, as he retreated. However, that wasn't Kazu's main goal. It was the person below the ground.
Sol erupted from the ground with a pale-looking face. He had almost gotten knocked out by the vibrations aimed at him.
A magic bullet appeared in front of Kazu. However, just as he was going to fire it at Sol—
BANG
He heard a loud sound, followed by a sound of something violently tearing the air.
'A bullet? Can she use guns?' A barrier around Kazu, stopping the bullet. He glanced back, but didn't find Jenny in sight.
'How far is she firing that from? It would be troublesome if she could fire stronger bullets. I don't want to spend more Ethernano on maintaining a stronger barrier.' Kazu glanced back at Sol, but realised that he had disappeared.
"Tch." Kazu clicked his tongue before glancing at Sonic and Lily at opposite sides.
'Actually, let's just end this quickly.' Kazu increased the Ethernano output going into his barriers and created a way stronger barrier around him.
BOOM
Sonic appeared from the side, punching him, but he was stopped by the barrier.
"Now, that's strong. I wonder how long you can maintain it." Sonic retreated.
At least, he tried to.
"Not so fast." Kazu punched him. However, it only grazed past Sonic, as he disappeared.
Despite dodging the attack, Sonic's face didn't show any signs of joy. But rather it grimaced.
WHOOOSH
The air pressure caused by Kazu's fist was rushing at him.
His acceleration wasn't fast enough to outpace it.
BANG
Sonic was sent flying due to the impact.
"Got you," Kazu smirked, sending multiple magic bullets at him in the air.
The latter wasn't able to use his magic to move in the air, causing him to get hit directly, effectively knocking him out.
'His magic was something related to speed. He was way faster than my top speed, but not as fast as Laxus. Moreover, Laxus doesn't have such an obvious weakness.' Sonic was defenceless when he was not on the ground.
'Also, his spell circles are inside his body, similar to my Instinct magic, which makes it impossible for me to analyse them.'
"It seems that nee-chan really knows her stuff." Kazu turned his attention to the outside, where a purple miasma was covering him from all sides.
It was poison and was slowly eroding Kazu's barrier. Lily had used the time Kazu fought with Sonic to prepare a spell.
'It's pretty similar to darkness magic in destroying a barrier.' Kazu noted as he changed locations.
However, wherever he went, the miasma didn't disappear.
'This is interesting. Does this mean that she had put a spell directly on me? Can I escape it if I am fast enough?' Kazu tried his hypothesis and increased his speed to maximum. However, it was futile. The miasma around him didn't disappear.
BANG
A bullet hit the barrier, causing it to tremble.
BANG BANG BANG
This was followed by multiple bullets hitting the barrier, prompting Kazu to increase the Ethernano input.
'This isn't viable. Due to the miasma, I can't see. Moreover, the barrier is continually weakening. At this rate, I would be first to run out of Ethernano.' Kazu frowned.
'Should I disable it?' Kazu focused on the miasma for a few seconds. 'It shouldn't take me more than a minute to completely analyse it. Should I do that ?... No, Destructive Interference is my trump card. It should remain hidden from the world. Also, this should be a good challenge.' Kazu closed his eyes before activating Instinct magic.
His mind replayed the positions of all the people he had seen before the miasma, then the current barrage he was facing, and then Lily's prior words and actions.
'There!' Without an ounce of hesitation, Kazu rushed in one direction at rapid speed while firing multiple Ethernano bullets.
Lily's eyes widened when she looked at Kazu rushing at her. 'Shit! I suppressed my Ethernano fully. Does he have any sensing technique?' She had no choice but to use her magic to neutralise the Ethernano bullets, effectively giving her position away.
'Poison magic: Unyielding Lotus!' She quickly cast her strongest defence spell. A purple lotus engulfed her entire body, as it stopped all the Ethernano bullets.
THUD
However, it was meaningless when Kazu appeared near and punched it, shattering it easily. Kazu instantly shot multiple Ethernano bullets, one of them hitting her and knocking her out.
The miasma disappeared a few seconds later, giving Kazu a clear view of the surroundings.
"2 more to go." Kazu looked in the direction from which the bullets had been coming. The bullets had stopped since he had moved away from his original position.
'Jenny's smart. She's continuously changing her position to make sure that I don't snipe her instead. When did this become a gun battle?' Kazu chuckled.
Suddenly, his eyes widened as he felt his feet sinking into the ground.
'Quicksand!?' The ground has suddenly turned into quicksand, rapidly pulling his body in.
Kazu tried to make a barrier beneath his foot to use as footing. 'Fuck! I can't use Ethernano inside the ground. Is this some form of sealing magic!?' A shiver crawled up his spine.
Sealing magics were one of the special types of magic, which were generally used to seal powerful entities like demons. They took a long time to prepare. However, in exchange, they were pretty powerful, as it's one way for a weaker person to go against strong people.
"Kazu Sukehiro, I have heard about you. In fact, you made me curious, so I did some research on you." Sol appeared out of the ground at a considerable distance away. He had a polite smile on his face.
"You did? I wonder what you found." Kazu said while he started analysing the spell that was pulling him.
"Your life is a tragic one. To think that, not only do you have to face several hardships in your life, but lose everyone precious to you throughout your life, as if you are cursed." His words caused Kazu to stiffen.
Kazu turned his focus to him, not caring about the spell analysis.
"Yeah? I am happy that I am not the only one who feels that way." Kazu smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.
Sol nodded. "Indeed. You must have been forced to mature when you lost your parents. To think you had to raise your sister for a few years, only for her to face a tragic end.
Kazu clenched his fist. 'He really knows how to piss somebody. I am impressed.' He knew that Sol wanted to distract him to prevent him from escaping his spell, but Kazu didn't care. He still had multiple ways to escape even if he got sunk entirely in the ground.
"How old was she? 4? Such a young age to die. You are quite talented. I wonder if she would have become a strong mage like you if she grew up..." Sol said with a sombre tone, but Kazu knew that was a facade.
Everything about him was a lie, other than the words he was spouting.
"If you don't mind me asking, what were her last words?"
This was Kazu's last straw. A vein throbbed on his temple as he glared at Sol.
Just as he was going to make a move—
A dark beam suddenly appeared near him, rushing straight at him.
This attack was faster than Kazu's magic bullets.
'Fuck! I didn't expect Jose to make a move. I got played.' Kazu realised that the reason Sol had been talking to him was to keep him in one place for a second. Jose used that opportunity to sneak-attack him.
CRACK
His barrier broke like glass, the beam almost nearing Kazu's heart.
***
24/50 Powerstones for Double Release
***
Join my Patreon to support me.
You can even find 20 advanced chapters there:
- DESIRE96
(search it up)
Check out my other works.