Chapter 200: [200] Threats

Artie tried to move her body, but her muscles were hardly responding.

’How did my spell backfire?’ she thought as she fought against herself, struggling to free her muscles from the spell’s paralysing effect.

And then came the giant’s foot, casting a large shadow over her.

’Damn it!’

She let out a battle cry as she forced her body to move. It was too late to escape, so she channeled all her leftover mana into her arms and raised them above her head, receiving the giant’s foot with a muffled groan.

It was beyond foolish. There was no way she could stop a giant that size with her bare hands. But she was not going to lie down and die!

There was no way she was going to die at the hands of a high elf!

“Give me your best shot!” she screamed, her messy red hair fluttering by her sides.

Artie’s shoulder groaned as the foot pushed her down. Cracks spread through the floor underneath her feet. Blood spurted out of her mouth. But she kept pushing.

The entire crowd grew silent as they watched her struggle. Even Tiberius was taken aback.

But Artie’s futile struggle lasted for three seconds at best, just before her right hand snapped like a twig.

Artie gasped in pain, her knees buckled, and then the foot came down upon her with an explosive bang!

Dust shot up from the ground, a small shockwave cutting through the arena and blowing past Tiberius.

He stared at the dust cloud, a small laugh escaping his lips as he shook his head. “What did I expect from a wood elf? Hopeless till the end—”

He paused as the dust began to clear. “What is the meaning of this?”

Instead of seeing a river of blood flowing from underneath the golem’s feet…

What Tiberius saw was a golden dome, sparks erupting as the giant tried to crush it with its foot.

Up above the arena, Azarath’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Divine magic?”

<•••>

“Artie?!”

Eliron held her upright before she could fall. He had to support her full body to prevent her knees from buckling under her own weight.

Artie was soaked with sweat, completely fatigued, her breathing erratic as she held tightly onto him with her left arm.

She glanced at Eliron’s plump belly and smiled faintly.

“It looks like the rice tasting went well…” she joked, just before wincing in pain.

Her body was bruised all over, and her right hand was a mess, with bones jutting out of her flesh. It was a wonder how she hadn’t even passed out from the pain.

Eliron felt something cold settle in the pit of his stomach. His voice dropped low, dangerously so, as he stared at the giant above them.

“What happened?”

After sensing something was off, he used the marker he had on Artie to warp himself, Yen, and the bandits to her location.

What he had not expected to see was her seconds away from being crushed to death.

Mages of the tower were not known to be the aggressive sort, how then had things ended up this way?

Yen had not spoken a single word. With a panicked look on her face, she was rummaging through the infinity pouch, searching for something.

“My magic… it backfired,” Artie answered his question after a long pause.

“Backfired?” Eliron asked, sounding confused.

Magic backfiring was something that often happens with beginner mages, not someone at Artie’s level.

“Someone must have distorted your magic…”

Artie nodded weakly. “I t-thought as much.”

“By the way, who are these people?” Artie gestured towards the man and woman standing behind Eliron.

“Umm, good afternoon?” Alexander nervously greeted.

They were smart enough to have already put on their masks to avoid being identified, which was good.

“They are people I have business with. Ignore them for now.”

“That is enough talking,” Yen said as she stuffed a folded towel in Artie’s mouth.

She took a deep breath. “Hold her tightly, okay?” She had a serious look on her face as she addressed Eliron.

Bang!

The dome suddenly shook, golden sparks racing along its curvature as the golem pounded its foot into it.

“Who the hell are you people?! How dare you interrupt our duel?!”

Eliron had been so focused on Artie that he had ignored the person some distance away from them.

But now that he saw him, he felt his blood boil over. “A filthy high elf…”

What else had he expected?

“Leave here at once, or I’ll crush you all without mercy!”

The giant raised its foot again, about to pound it into the shield when Eliron’s staff appeared in his hands.

He pointed it at the giant and whispered. [Disintegration]

Just as the golem’s foot was about to come down, large magic circles suddenly surrounded the hulking monstrosity.

In an instant, there was nothing left. Not even ash remained.

— What the fucking fuck?

Someone’s you’ve cut through the silence.

There was a loud rumble as all the mages got to their feet, leaning at the edge of the barricades to make sense of what they had seen.

But no matter how they tried to explain it—to make sense of it—they were left more than stunned. The golem, it was truly gone…

Disintegration was an SSS Ranked fire spell, something that only the Magus Supreme was capable of casting.

It couldn’t possibly be that spell could it? The thought of it was beyond befuddling.

Tiberius took a step back, nearly tripping over his own feet, his mind a mess of thoughts.

But Eliron paid no attention to them. Now that the distraction was gone, they could focus on Artie’s healing.

Yennefer held Artie’s shattered arm and grimaced. “Did she try to stop the foot herself?” she muttered before meeting Artie’s gaze.

“I’m sorry… this is going to hurt a lot.”

Artie shrugged, her damp hair clinging to her face as she muttered something that sounded like, “How bad could it be?” into the towel.

Yen glanced at Eliron, and he held her firmly.

Once Yennefer started, Artie’s eyes went wide, her body jerking from the pain.

One by one, the broken bones tore into her flesh, cutting a path through her muscles and veins to return to their rightful position.

Blood spurted out of the wound, flowing over Yen’s fingers. She winced, but continued, knowing that stopping halfway would be even worse.

Artie tried her best to stay calm, eventually passing out in Eliron’s arms when the healing was complete.

Yen took out the towel, then glared at the high elf. “Fuck him up.”

It was the first time Eliron had ever heard her curse. But he understood exactly how she was feeling.

Restraining himself for so long was maddening. Right now, all he wanted to do was make him suffer, slowly.

“Keep her safe,” he said to Yennefer, about to place her in her hands when Tsukiko suddenly transformed.

The little fox grew tall enough to meet Eliron’s gaze and sat down to allow them to rest Artie on the soft fur of her side.

Eliron smiled, then stepped out of the dome…

“This must have been amusing for you, wasn’t it? Two mages of your level teaming up against a single unregistered mage?”

Eliron did not look up to see Azarath, but he knew he was addressing him as well.

Artie was not the type of person who took on challenges she couldn’t win. No, she was too smart for that.

She must have figured out a way to beat him, if only they had not played dirty.

A small smile appeared on his face. To think she would be able to fight a high elven wizard head on…

It was truly impressive. Which only made him angrier.

Step!

In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Tiberius. The high elf stared at him, frozen in shock as Eliron’s bloodlust overwhelmed his senses.

Eliron smiled, his blue eyes colder than the northern mountains.

“Come on… give me your best shot.”

“I’ll allow it.”

He laughed lightly, then began slowly walking around Tiberius, his hands clasped behind his back. “But if you fail to scratch me…”

Eliron pointed at the crowd. “Then every single one of these mages will die.”

..

A/N

200 Chapters at last! We now have over 270 thousand words written, hehe :3

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