Chapter 214: Shattered Sky

The battle had devolved into chaos, no longer resembling a clash of organized forces. It was now a feral storm of steel and magic, devastating everything in its path.

Where the Guild once stood proudly, a three-story structure adorned with carved stone and vibrant banners, only jagged ruins remained.

Half the building had collapsed inward like a broken ribcage, while the courtyard lay unrecognizable, its orderly pathways shattered into rubble and smoking craters. The stables were reduced to splintered beams and twisted iron, statues toppled and shattered into fragments buried beneath dust and blood.

A few structures still clung to existence: the Adventurer Inn stood scarred but intact, its reinforced foundation resisting the shockwaves, the Mana Cultivation Tower glowed faintly, its enchantments holding firm against destruction and the Smithy remained standing despite a partially caved-in roof.

Everything else had been razed to the ground, transforming what was once a thriving Guild compound into a battlefield that felt more like the aftermath of a natural disaster.

At the center of this devastation, Sage faced off against five remaining Master Knights and the leader of the black-clad force in a brutal exchange that carved new scars into an already ruined landscape.

Their fight was devoid of restraint; every strike carried the weight of survival, each spell cast with an understanding that hesitation could mean death.

Shockwaves erupted whenever steel met aura, sending debris tumbling while bursts of mana illuminated the shattered plaza in violent flashes.

The Master Knights moved like phantoms despite their injuries, intercepting attacks, creating distractions, and striking whenever Sage’s spells offered openings, while their leader retaliated with devastating force, his blade carving trenches through earth with each swing as his aura roared like an inferno.

Sage’s body was nearing collapse. His robes hung in tatters, soaked with blood and dust; cuts and burns marred his skin with every movement he made.

Each breath felt painful as it scraped through his chest, and a pounding headache dulled his senses as if he were fighting through fog. Yet his eyes remained clear, cold and unyielding, focused solely on his opponent before him. His staff trembled slightly in his grip as he forced mana through pathways already strained to their limits; he could feel his soul energy grinding against those boundaries threatening to tear him apart from within but still he pressed on.

The leader lunged again, frustration sharpening his movements as he cut through the defenses of the Master Knights to surge toward Sage. In an instant, Sage vanished in a flash of lightning beneath him and reappeared behind a collapsed pillar just as wind blades erupted outward, forcing the leader to pivot mid-charge.

A Master Knight seized this opening with a heavy aura-coated slash from the side while another thrust aimed for ribs. Steel clashed violently; shockwaves exploded as their leader countered with a sweeping strike that sent both knights crashing down, their armor cracking under immense force.

He turned sharply, his eyes scanning for Sage but Sage had vanished again, reappearing several meters away. In an instant, he unleashed a flurry of fire spells that detonated in rapid succession.

The fight had turned relentless, each exchange flowing seamlessly into the next as the tempo escalated, making the battlefield pulse with constant motion. Debris was lifted and scattered under the force of their clashes, dust spiraling upward like smoke from a burning city.

The remaining Adventurers and black-clad knights had long since slowed their own battles; many staggered back or collapsed where they stood, unable to look away from the overwhelming spectacle unfolding at the center.

Every movement from Sage and the leader felt charged with impending resolution, and every spell that detonated seemed like it could be the one to end it all.

Then, in a moment that came too quickly to anticipate, Sage vanished once more, lightning flashing beneath his feet. The leader immediately shot toward where he expected Sage to reappear.

His blade swung in a massive arc, mana surging outward to form a gigantic crescent of energy that tore through the air like a tidal wave before slamming into the ground with enough force to split stone and send fissures racing outward. The slash obliterated the space where Sage should have been.

But Sage wasn’t there.

The leader’s eyes widened slightly as his attack struck nothing but shattered earth. He glanced sideways and there stood Sage several meters away from where he’d anticipated him, swaying slightly. His entire body was drenched in blood; deep gashes marred his flesh while his robes hung in ragged strips like torn banners.

For a brief moment, time seemed to freeze on the battlefield.

Sage grinned faintly, exhaustion etched into every line of his face. “You thought I’d appear there,” he said hoarsely but steadily as he shook his head slowly. “I changed my trajectory… and this is what I paid for.”

The leader’s expression hardened before shifting into a grin of his own. “So you injured yourself just to mislead me,” he replied lightly. “Impressive… but foolish. You’re already on the brink of collapse.”

His blade lowered slightly as his aura surged again. “Bye-bye.”

Sage didn’t move; instead, he lifted one trembling hand and pointed toward the ground.

The leader frowned instinctively and glanced down, and his expression shifted dramatically.

Chains of fire had wrapped around his legs, binding them tightly together; flames burned bright yet controlled, anchored by an intricate spell array etched invisibly beneath him. Before he could react, Sage raised his hand again and pointed toward the sky.

The leader followed the gesture.

Above him, just beneath the fading golden barrier, three enormous magic circles had formed, interlocking in a fiery crimson pattern. Their runes blazed with intensity, mana swirling at their centers as massive stones of fire began to emerge, burning and molten, glowing like newborn stars pulled from the heart of a furnace.

The leader’s expression shifted from irritation to alarm as realization dawned on him. He shattered his chains instantly, his aura exploding outward, but the momentary delay had already cost him dearly.

“Level 3 Fire Spell…” Sage’s voice rasped, barely audible yet filled with quiet determination. “Crimson Meteor.”

The circles flared brightly.

Three colossal flaming stones broke free and plummeted downward at blinding speed, streaking through the air like falling comets, their descent splitting the atmosphere with a deafening roar.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The impact shattered the Guild grounds. The earth convulsed violently as massive fissures tore outward like the gaping jaws of an abyss when the meteors struck where the leader had been standing.

Explosions erupted in rapid succession, engulfing everything in waves of fire, dust, and shock. The remaining combatants were thrown off their feet as the ground buckled beneath them, the force ripping through ruins and collapsing what little remained of nearby structures.

For a moment, there was nothing but smoke and an eerie silence.

Then slowly, the dust began to clear.

A massive crater yawned where the meteors had struck; its edges charred and broken while steam rose from the blackened ground. At its center lay the leader, sprawled in a shallow ditch with scorched armor and faint wisps of smoke rising from his body. He didn’t move.

Sage stepped forward deliberately despite his trembling legs; his staff dragged lightly against the ground as he approached the crater’s edge. He looked down into it and locked eyes with the leader.

The man was still conscious, burned and battered but alive.

Sage held his gaze steady as he spoke in a low voice. “I told you… I will kill you.”

He raised his staff high.

Suddenly his ears twitched at a faint sound that pierced through the air, distant at first like fabric tearing.

But it grew louder, a splitting shriek that felt sharp and unnatural, as if something immense were tearing through the sky itself.

Sage’s brow furrowed, instinctively sharpening his senses as that sound intensified into a piercing roar that vibrated through both air and bone. It was fast, too fast, approaching with such velocity that it made surrounding mana ripple violently.

And then he recognized it, something was coming at breakneck speed.

Above the Guild, beyond that golden barrier, a blinding streak of crimson light tore across the sky trailing sonic booms that echoed like thunderclaps behind it; its velocity so immense that it warped and split the very air around it.

Sage’s eyes widened in alarm. “Take cover!” he shouted, his voice slicing through the chaos of the battlefield.

The Adventurers sprang into action, instincts kicking in despite their fatigue. They scattered in every direction, diving behind debris and sprinting away from the impending impact zone.

Just a heartbeat later, a crimson streak collided with the golden barrier.

BOOOOOOOM!

It didn’t just crack; it shattered completely, exploding outward like glass under immense pressure. A high-pitched whine of released energy that drove spikes of pain into every ear on the battlefield, followed by a pressure wave that felt like the atmosphere itself was collapsing inward.

The crimson mass surged through the remnants of the barrier and crashed onto the Guild grounds with catastrophic force.

The ground convulsed violently as a shockwave rippled outwards like a miniature earthquake, sending both Adventurers and black-clad knights tumbling to the ground as it buckled beneath them. Debris soared into the air before crashing back down, shaking the very foundation of the Guild.

The crimson light settled at the center of the battlefield.

And then, once more, the earth trembled.

An eerie silence enveloped everything, leaving an almost suffocating stillness in its wake.

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